Note from the Director

Welcome to the Strategic Development Council’s (SDC) first E-News!  This new electronic newsletter will be published every two months to keep you updated on SDC progress and upcoming meetings/events.  Please spend a few minutes reading this newsletter when it arrives in your in-box every other month. 

In the coming weeks, visit SDC’s updated website, www.ConcreteSDC.org , to view additional membership information and details about past, present, and future SDC projects. 

Sincerely,

Douglas J. Sordyl, P.E., LEED AP
Managing Director, Strategic Development Council
SDC@ConcreteSDC.org
248-848-3755

P.S. The goal of this newsletter is to keep SDC members, clients, and colleagues informed on SDC happenings. If you know someone who would benefit from reading this newsletter, please forward it to him/her.  In the coming weeks, you will be able to sign up to receive this newsletter at www.ConcreteSDC.org.

Meeting & Sessions

Session #23
April 22-23, 2008
Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas
Irving, TX, USA

Click here to learn more. 

Projects & Accomplishments

Members of SDC have been busy throughout 2007.  Highlights of accomplishments this past year include:

Sustainability – At the Fall 2006 SDC Session #20, SDC identified the need for a common, industry-wide vision of concrete’s role in sustainable development.  In 2007, SDC devoted considerable resources to the Concrete Sustainability Vision and Road Map Project, beginning with a Concrete Summit on Sustainable Development at SDC Session #21 in Washington, DC, on May 29-30, 2007, to continue strategic planning meetings in Atlanta and Montreal during the summer and finish with two Concrete Sustainability Workshops in the fall in San Diego, CA, and St. Louis, MO. The goal of this initiative is to deliver a Vision document with goals and a rudimentary road map for industry action to the concrete associations in the U.S. and Canada by mid-2008. 

Self-Consolidating Concrete Form Pressure Research – Research work continues on SCC Formwork Pressure, with a goal to provide practical, technical guidance for the design of vertical formwork and placement of SCC in columns, walls, and other vertical applications.  Currently, a major obstacle to the wider use of self-consolidating concrete in vertical construction is the requirement that, unless shown otherwise, the concrete pressure exerted on formwork is assumed to be full fluid head.

Performance Concrete Specification – SDC members believe that permitting and encouraging the use of performance concrete specifications will provide considerable impetus toward the use of evolving technology and innovation in the design of concrete mixtures.  The lack of current standards for performance concrete specifications is being addressed by the recent formation of an Innovative Task Group under the auspices of ACI to expedite that effort.  Known as ITG-8, Performance Criteria for Concrete Materials, this committee will work to develop a consensus standard and advance the use of performance concrete specifications. 

Vision 2020 – SDC facilitated the creation of Vision 2020: A Vision for the Concrete Repair, Protection and Strengthening Industry in 2004 and the development of a detailed road map for Vision 2020’s thirteen goals in 2005.  As champion of this SDC initiative, Peter Emmons of The Structural Group is leading efforts to formulate a significant fund-raising effort to support the road map activities that need financial resources to succeed or be accelerated. 

Cracking – At its most recent Session #22 in San Diego this past fall, SDC approved cracking as an industry critical technology.  Somewhat obvious as a critical issue in the industry, the scope of SDC’s efforts in this area is being formulated.

SDC Members

• SUNDT, SDC Member, was recognized by ENR magazine as one of the Top 50 Green Contractors of 2007.  The report, published in ENR on September 24, 2007, ranks “the top 50 U.S.-based contractors, both publicly and privately held, based on construction contracting-specific revenue on projects that have been registered or certified by third-party organizations as following specific environmental, energy-savings, or sustainability standards.”  SUNDT was ranked eleventh.