NRMCA Joins Concrete Sustainability Council As System Operator for U.S. Marketplace
Alexandria, VA – March 18, 2021
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) has announced that it has joined the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) and become a Regional System Operator (RSO) for the U.S. marketplace. The CSC is the only industry-specific system that certifies the sustainability performance of concrete plants and their supply chain across the globe. The responsible sourcing of construction materials is an increasing priority in high-profile construction projects and in public procurement. As an RSO, NRMCA will manage the CSC, its certification framework, governance and independent verifier network in the U.S. Developed in conjunction with social and environmental stakeholders, the CSC is the industry recognized authentication system, with more than 400 plants certified to its standards across 10 different countries.
Concrete has an important role to play and its short supply chains and local production lend itself to being able to demonstrate a high level of environmental, social and economic responsibility. Commenting on NRMCA’s new membership, CSC Chairman Dr Christian Artelt said, “We are delighted with the decision of NRMCA to champion the many sustainability benefits of concrete by putting its market influence and reach behind the CSC. We look forward to reinforcing and accelerating our work with their support.”
“The CSC has established a highly respected and internationally applicable responsible sourcing framework for concrete,” said NRMCA President Michael Philipps. “Helping to extend the reach and use of CSC certification in the U.S. falls squarely in our wider mission of promoting concrete across the whole value chain. Additionally, bringing on the CSC program as an adjacent program to NRMCA’s environmental product declaration (EPD) program continues to demonstrate our leadership and willingness to disclose the sustainability of concrete – Strength through Transparency.”
Architects, developers and contractors can be assured of socially and environmentally responsible practices through the concrete supply chain when specifying CSC-certified concrete. Internationally recognized sustainable project assessment methods, such as BREEAM, credit design teams and their projects with points when CSC-certified concrete is specified and procured. Recently the USGBC launched a pilot credit on social equity in the supply chain and acknowledged the CSC as an approved program. NRMCA Execute Vice President of Promotion Strategy and Communications Gregg Lewis, AIA, added, “Encouraging uptake of certification and having best practices spread more widely through the concrete industry is a win-win toward demonstrating tangible sustainability improvements – for designers, developers, concrete producers and raw material suppliers.”
About the Concrete Sustainability Council: Concrete industry partners from Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia initiated the development of a global responsible sourcing certification system designed to help concrete, cement and aggregate companies obtain insight into how a company operates in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible way. Concrete is the world’s most widely used building material. By creating a certification system for responsibly sourced concrete, the CSC promotes and demonstrates concrete as a sustainable building material to enable informed decision in construction.