Environmental Design + Construction - September 2008 - (Page S6)

CONCRETE The cement industry has a number of environment-related voluntary goals it’s striving to meet, focusing on cutting CO2 emissions, reducing the amount of cement kiln dust (CKD) that is landfilled, implementing auditable and verifiable environmental management systems and boosting energy efficiency. And while there is not yet any specific industry goal for alternative fuel use, O’Hare says it won’t be long before it’s added to the list and that PCA is currently working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study options. “The future holds much more opportunity to use these materials,” O’Hare says. winner of the Energy Efficiency award. Not only has the plant reduced energy use and CO2 emissions, but it has also added a corporate director of energy services to oversee energy conservation — and in 2007, the plant received the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award. SUGAR CREEK PLANT LEADS IN USING ALTERNATIVE RAW MATERIALS Another cement plant that took home multiple 2008 Energy & Environment Awards is Lafarge North America, Inc.’s Sugar Creek, Mo. facility. The recognition is due in large part to its using 33 percent alternative raw materials in the manufacturing process, says Steve Kidwell, environmental and public affairs manager for the plant. In 2007 alone, Sugar Creek used more than 375,000 tons of alternative raw materials including utility bottom ash, utility boiler slag, foundry sands, iron mill scale and limestone fines. Kidwell says the plant uses so much local utility bottom ash that the five generating stations nearby have stopped landfilling any of the byproduct, and at one location Lafarge is even mining material from the old ash pond for use at Sugar Creek. The key benefit of using raw materials is easy to explain, says Kidwell, “We send out good product, but it makes less CO2 per ton.” Sugar Creek is also committed to using alternative fuels. In 2007, it opened an alternate solid fuels facility designed to turn industrial byproducts from regional manufacturing firms into fuel — reducing the plant’s reliance on fossil fuels by 50,000 tons annually. + ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT AWARDS INSPIRE Sponsored every year since 2002 by PCA and Cement Americas magazine, the annual Energy & Environment Awards recognize cement plants in six categories: Environmental Performance, Land Stewardship, Outreach, Innovation, Energy Efficiency and Overall Environmental Excellence. Elizabeth Dutrow, director of industrial sector partnerships for the EPA ENERGY STAR program, has served as a judge in recent years, and says the 2008 awards show real achievement in the industry. “Those plants which have qualified in either winning or becoming a runner-up for the Energy Efficiency award have developed more long- At Lafarge North America, Inc’s Sugar Creek, Mo., cement plant, 33 percent of raw materials come from alternative sources like local utility bottom ash, boiler slag, foundry sands, iron mill scale and limestone fines. Image courtesy of Lafarge North America. term energy strategies that they have built upon previous successes, to mature the programs that they have,” she says. The top winner this year was CEMEX’s plant in Davenport, Calif., which took home the Overall Environmental Excellence award, as well as the Land Stewardship award (in part for receiving the Forest Stewardship Council Smartwood Certification from the Rain Forest Alliance) and was a finalist in the Environmental Performance and Energy Efficiency categories. Another success story is the California Portland Cement Company plant in Colton, Calif., IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES For Durable, Sustainable, High Performance Construction, There’s Only One Choice PolySteel Insulating Concrete Forms! ONLINE AT EDCmag.com The third annual “Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World” student design competition, co-sponsored by Portland Cement Association (PCA) along with the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and administered by Association of Collegiate School of Architecture (ACSA), is just one way the concrete industry is working to inspire students to embrace sustainable design. With more than 800 students applying this year (studying at 33 architecture schools from around the world), judges had a wide variety of ideas to pore over in making their decisions. 800-977-3676 www.polysteel.com/edc WWW.EDCMAG.COM “The Best Building Material You Can Use for the Exterior Walls of Your Next Residential or Commercial Project” READER SERVICE NO. s6 EDC07074Aply.indd 1 171 WWW.EDCMAG.COM/WEBCARD 6/27/07 1:30:43 PM http://EDCmag.com http://www.polysteel.com/edc http://www.edcmag.com http://www.edcmag.com/webcard

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Environmental Design + Construction - September 2008

Environmental Design + Construction - September 2008 Contents Web TOC Editor's Note Newsline New and Notable Announcing the 2008 Excellence in Design Awards Award Winner: Yale Sculpture Building Snapshots: College and Universities Teach Sustainability Color ISH North America Green Continuing Education Special Section: Concrete Product Focus Marketplace and Classifieds Advertiser's Index Underwater Adventures

Environmental Design + Construction - September 2008

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