Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.
Issue link: http://concrete.epubxp.com/i/724035
www.concreteproducts.com September 2016 • 17 Titan America's Roanoke Cement in Virginia has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certification for a tenth consecutive year, while sister Pennsuco operation in Florida marks nine years of certification. To qualify for Energy Star, plants must perform in the top 25 percent of cement mills nationwide for total energy efficiency (thermal and electrical) and meet strict EPA performance levels. Titan America has implemented a series of processes enabling employees to maintain and improve energy performance across the enterprise. The Titan Energy Management System (EnMS), operating at the company's three largest facilities—Roanoke Cement and the Pennsuco mill plus companion aggregate operation in Medley, Fla.— positions employees to systematically manage total consumption of all energy sources. EnMS addresses the energy performance standard ISO 50001; ensures that the company's business operations are as efficient as possible; increases plant reliability; and, supports Titan America's operational goals. "We are passionate about continuously developing efficient, sus- tainable operating practices," says Titan America CEO Bill Zarkalis. "[The] EnMS program is an excellent example of innovation and of NEWS SCOPE PRODUCERS Empowered employees help Titan America mark a decade in EPA Energy Star ranks our commitment to make business operations more efficient, while contributing as much as we can to make the locations in which we operate better places to live and work." "We consider [the Energy Star] milestone to be a catalyst for reinvigorating our teams and increasing our efforts," adds Titan America Senior Vice President, Cement Operations and Corporate Engineering George Pantazopoulos. "We have no doubt that we can gain further efficiencies in our manufacturing processes using the EnMS program." Roanoke Cement has applied electricity management best practices during the previous 18 months and delivered an 11 percent reduction in electricity consumed per ton of cement produced. Additionally, the company has partnered with electrical utilities to reduce their contribution to peaks on the power grid due through demand man- agement and response. These efforts ensure that utilities' inefficient peak generators can remain offline during times when homeowners and businesses place a large demand on the electrical grid. "The EnMS program is scheduled to be fully operational by 3Q 2017," notes Titan America Corporate Energy Manager Chris Bayne, who directs the EnMS program. "We organized teams to oversee the program at our three main facilities." They will routinely incorporate energy management practices into daily operations, he adds, mind- ful of Titan America's year-over-year goal of reducing total energy consumption 3 percent. HEADWATERS SEES DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASES IN FLY ASH VOLUMES In a third-quarter earnings report noting 8 percent revenue and 11 percent EBIDTA gains against the same period in 2015, Utah-based Headwaters Inc. offers guidance on a rebound in the slightly lagging core area of its Construction Materials business: Fly ash and other coal combustion products (CCP) shipments. "We believe that our fly ash supply in 2016 compared to 2015 was lower because of a temporary seasonal decline in production due primarily to lower electricity demand and unusually low natural gas prices, both impacted by unseasonably mild temperatures. Sales volumes were also impacted by rain," the company tells investors. "Based on demand for high quality CCP, improvements to weather, and increasing natural gas prices, we expect sales volumes for CCP to normalize in the fourth quarter." "As demand for high quality CCP remains strong, we continue to develop additional fly ash sources, some of which are not dependent upon current electricity generation. We have been actively involved in creative strategies to secure additional supplies for some time, and believe that several of these will be operational in 2017," Head- waters reports. "The American Coal Ash Association estimates that there are hundreds of millions of tons of potentially available CCP, much of which we believe could be reclaimed for use as fly ash. In addition, we are expanding our storage and blending capabilities. As we develop additional sources of supply, we forecast 2017 volumes in the range of 6.1 to 6.5 million tons, a 9 percent to 20 percent increase over 2016 projected volumes. "We are pleased with the overall performance of the business and remain very optimistic that our key end markets will continue to grow in 2017. Efforts to increase our available fly ash supply should also add revenue and cash flow in the coming months, as well as in 2017 and beyond," affirms Headwaters Chief Financial Officer Don Newman.