Concrete Study Earns Praise

Concrete industry groups such as the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association are backing a study done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that looks at the environmental costs of paving and building materials.

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has joined a host of concrete-focused industry organizations in recognizing the importance of a study released in December by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that will help set a new standard in life-cycle assessment (LCA) modeling.

The studies, which are part of an ongoing research initiative at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH), will quantify the cradle-to-grave environmental costs of paving and building materials, and will ultimately result in the most comprehensive LCA model produced to date. MIT is scheduled to follow these preliminary research findings in a 2011 study that will examine the economic costs associated with providing a comprehensive analysis of the total costs of building and paving materials.

NRMCA producer members welcomed the results of the research, pointing to the value attached to having such a prestigious, non-partisan institution such as MIT undertake a project long sought by the ready mix industry: the independent and irrefutable validation of concrete?EUR??,,????'?????<
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Those projects and programs include a recent joint effort announced a few months ago by NRMCA in conjunction with the American Concrete Pavement Association to spearhead a program that communicates the features and benefits of concrete for streets and local roads. The associations collaborated to produce a range of promotional material and resources that are available to members and regional, state and local groups interested in boosting their share of an important market.

The MIT CSH was co-founded by the Portland Cement Association and RMC Research & Education Foundation. The MIT interim reports on the LCA of pavements and the LCA of buildings are available from the Foundation?EUR??,,????'?????<www.rmc-foundation.org.

Additional information about the work taking place at the MIT CSH may be found at https://web.mit.edu/cshub.