Segments of the industry unveiled plans this year – or expedited them – to establish more carbon-friendly materials.
The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), for instance, unveiled its own roadmap outlining the direction asphalt producers must take over the next two decades to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the production of pavements.
“We know that, by embracing our decades-long spirit of innovation, we can and will do more toward sustainability,” says Jim Mitchell, president of Superior Paving Corp., who also serves NAPA as chairman of the board. “Asphalt pavement is the No. 1 recycled material in the country. As an industry, we reused 87 million tons in 2020 alone. This plan includes greater use of existing technology such as recycled and warm-mix asphalt, while spurring development and implementation of new technologies to further reduce emissions.”
Similarly, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) aims to meet a 2050 carbon neutrality goal for the concrete industry. Earlier this year, the association noted that its members lowered their carbon footprint by 21 percent in a seven-year period.
“Adopting innovative products such as portland limestone cement and other blended cements that reduce the carbon footprint of concrete while maintaining high performance means we can continue to build energy-efficient and disaster-resilient structures with concrete, but with a lower carbon footprint,” says Lionel Lemay, NRMCA executive vice president of structures and sustainability.
Funding projects
Although sustainability initiatives are more front and center these days, producers and contractors still must see projects demanding construction materials get off the ground.
“We’re seeing on some of the major projects with long-term project timelines bids coming in well north of engineers’ estimates,” Reddin says. “That’s an impact of inflation, and we have a disconnect right now in those. That’s resulting in project delays and, in some cases, projects being pulled totally.”
Reddin, however, characterizes resurfacing projects as in a different category.
“The good news is that resurfacing projects – good consumers of construction aggregates – don’t have those long-term time horizons and don’t have the same risk,” he says. “I think that will bode well. But until we get this letting/bidding dynamic to an equilibrium, we won’t feel the real, full impact of the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act).”
Mineo also observes holdups in infrastructure funding.
“Even if you didn’t want to look specifically at IIJA dollars, I think in general we’re seeing some delays in infrastructure spending from some of the funding we have,” he says. “California is a great example. They came out with their budget, and they had $5 billion they had expected to spend in the current year that’s being pushed into next year. They’ve got money flowing in but it’s a matter of getting the projects spent correctly and allocating the dollars.”
The bottom line
Reddin is eager to see how 2023 unfolds.
“In general, the market demand remains good but uncertainty does have an impact on parallelizing decision-making – especially around capital items and acquisitions,” Reddin says.