Central Concrete Joins Google, BASF, DPR Construction, KPFF Consulting Engineers and MIT to Discuss the Role of Transparency and Material Ingredient Disclosure at the International Concrete Sustainability Conference

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Central Concrete Supply, Inc., a U.S. Concrete, Inc. (NASDAQ-USCR) company and the leader in delivering low CO₂ concrete to the San Francisco Bay Area, today announced that it would be joining representatives from Google, Inc., BASF, DPR Construction, KPFF Consulting Engineers and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to discuss Transparency and Material Ingredient Disclosure – What Google is Doing to Keep its Buildings Healthy at the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, to be held May 6-8 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Central Concrete will also co-present a technical session on EPDs: An Inside Look at the Keys to Successful Implementation and moderate a discussion on Life Cycle Assessment.

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Transparency and Material Ingredient Disclosure – What Google is Doing to Keep its Buildings Healthy

Michael Fletcher, senior advisor for the BASF Center for Building Excellence, will open the panel discussion on Transparency and Material Ingredient Disclosure – What Google is Doing to Keep its Buildings Healthy. Recognizing that many building owners are seeking ways to evaluate and compare the environmental impact and contents of building materials, Fletcher will explore the role of transparency and how it relates to 'precautionary' vs. 'risk' schools of thought.  Caspar Wagner, Google green team design and construction lead, will then take a closer look at the Google Bay View Project and describe how Google used these transparency principles when implementing the Google Healthy Materials Program.

The Google case study will be followed by a panel discussion. Panelists will describe current trends in transparency and material disclosure, discuss how to evaluate and respond to an owner's 'healthy building' requirements, and share information on current and projected innovations in sustainable concrete.

In addition to Fletcher and Wagner, roundtable panelists include:

• Jeff Davis, vice president and general manager, Central Concrete Supply, a U.S. Concrete Company
• Ted van Der Linden, director of sustainability, DPR Construction
• Blake Inouye, structural engineer and associate, KPFF Consulting Engineers
• Franz-Josef Ulm, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

EPDs: An Inside Look at the Keys to Successful Implementation

As today's building owners increasingly endeavor to build greener buildings, members of the design team seek proven and verified product labels. This has led to the recent development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) – a standardized label designed to communicate the environmental impacts of a product in a scientifically sound, streamlined and comparable way. At the International Concrete Sustainability Conference, Chris Erickson, president and CEO of Climate Earth, a provider of systems, data and services for sustainable management, and Jeff Davis, vice president and general manager, Central Concrete, will take an inside look at how Central Concrete became the first ready-mix supplier in the U.S. to adopt and receive external verification of its EPDs.

Life Cycle Assessment

Ryan Henkensiefken, business development engineer at Central Concrete, will moderate a technical session on Life Cycle Assessment. The topics to be addressed are: Comparative Analysis of the Life-Cycle Impact Assessment of Cement Mortar Mixes Using the Green Concrete LCA Tool presented by Arpad Horvath, University of California Berkeley; An Approach for Analyzing Cost and Energy Performance Trade-offs in Residential Building Wall Systems presented by Jeremy Gregory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and 10 Questions LCA Can Answer about Concrete Buildings presented by Frances Yang, Arup.

Related Resource
Why Scalable Environmental Product Labeling is Key to a Sustainable Economy: A Case Study on the Development of Central Concrete's EPDs. Produced by Climate Earth. Read PDF »

About 2013 Concrete Sustainability Conference
The 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, sponsored by the National Ready Mix Association (NRMCA), provides learning and networking opportunities on the latest advances, technical knowledge, continuing research, tools and solutions for sustainable concrete manufacturing and construction.

• Dates: May 6-8, 2013
• Location: Hotel Sofitel, Redwood City, located in the San Francisco Bay Area
• For more information visit: http://www.concretesustainabilityconference.org/sanfrancisco/

About Central Concrete
Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (NASDAQ-USCR), has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 60 years. The company is recognized for engineering higher-performing concrete than traditional concrete, while significantly lowering the carbon footprint with its low CO₂ mixes.

Unlike traditional concrete, Central's standard mixes deliver 50% or greater cement replacement materials, thereby significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the project under construction. Central Concrete is recognized for supplying its low CO₂ mixes to numerous San Francisco Bay Area signature projects, including the Cathedral of Christ the Light Church, Oakland; California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco – the world's greenest museum; NASA Ames Sustainability Base, Mountain View – the greenest federal building in the U.S.; David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos – largest net-zero building in California; the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) headquarters – San Francisco's greenest office building; the recently opened Stanford Bing Concert Hall, Exploratorium of San Francisco and Devil's Slide and Tunnels; and the new Santa Clara 49er Stadium.

With 12 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Concrete offers multiple points of service to meet the diverse operational needs of its customers. For more information visit: http://centralconcrete.com.

SOURCE Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc.