Masonry Magazine December 2007 Page. 54
News
CSI Foundation Receives Grant for Green Format
The Charles Pankow Foundation has awarded a grant in the amount of $153,000 to the CSI Foundation to support continued development of GreenFormat, a new CSI format that enables manufacturers to accurately report the sustainability-measuring properties of their products for use by designers, constructors and building operators.
GreenFormat will help organize basic information about products and provide objective, standard-based performance measurements about their green and sustainable characteristics. Having this information available in a common and structured format will reduce research time and, thereby, improve designer-specifier-builder productivity. In addition, manufacturers will benefit by reducing time spent responding to firm-specific questions about their products.
To use Green Format, product manufacturers will complete an online reporting questionnaire about their products.
Sustainable information reported in GreenFormat is grouped into categories. The Green Format resource will be available to the construction industry through www.greenformat.com.
Accessing quantifiable data about product performance will address industry concerns about "greenwashing" by tying products to objective performance standards and, ultimately, help the industry move toward reducing the impact of buildings on the environment.
The funds will be used to acquire industry comment, revise and refine the draft version of the format, refine the Web site and database, and bring the format to the industry.
Spec Mix 500 Bricklayer Upper Midwest Winners
The final results of the Spec Mix Bricklayer 500 Regional Competition for the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, North Dakota and Northwest Wisconsin) have been announced. The contest was held Oct. 6 in St. Paul, Minn. The following teams participated in the competition: Rice Lake Construction, Hollenback & Nelson Inc., Stretar Masonry, Northland Concrete & Masonry Co., Gresser Companies, Hinco Inc., Gabel Masonry Construction Inc., and McGough Construction Co. Inc.
Official winners include:
1st Place: Rice Lake Construction
2nd Place & Craftmanship Award: Hollenback & Nelson Inc.
3rd Place: Stretar Masonry
Lafarge Receives Awards for Environmental, Safety Excellence
Herndon, Va.-based Lafarge, a specializer in building materials and a diversified supplier of construction materials, was the recipient of several of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association's (NSSGA) 2007 Awards for Environmental and Safety Excellence.
The awards recognized a number of Lafarge's aggregates and concrete sites across the United States and Canada for their commitment to sustainability initiatives in North America. A total of 37 Lafarge sites received Safety Excellence Awards, and 16 sites received Environmental Excellence Awards. Of note, Lafarge's Douglasville Quarry in Douglasville, Ga; the Presque Isle Quarry in Presque Isle, Mich.; and the Placitas Aggregates Facility in Bernalillo, N.Μ.; also received the Gold Award for Environmental Excellence.
In addition, Joyceann Lee, environmental manager of Lafarge Aggregrates Southeast Inc., was selected to receive the NSSGA's Environmental Leadership Award for her contributions to advance environmental stewardship within Lafarge and the aggregates industry. The Environmental Leadership Award provides recognition to any individual in the aggregates industry who has made superior and substantial contributions to his or her company's, or the industry's,