BY P+Ex Participant, Dr. Mary Vancura, American Engineering Testing, Inc.
P+Ex is an independent organization dedicated to excellence in service life extension and preservation of concrete infrastructure worldwide. I signed up for the first P+Ex Road Mapping Workshop knowing very little about the workshop objectives. I did know that If there was a group of industry people talking about concrete service life, I wanted to be at the table.
The first workshop, held in Baltimore, MD, on September 18, 2024, was both a wonderful learning experience and the start of the hard work of strategic planning for how to focus the work of P+Ex moving forward. The day-long workshop started with an introduction to P+Ex by the founders of the organization (Dave Whitmore and Peter Emmons) and keynote speakers from Canada and Italy:
- Alex Brisson is the CEO of Norda Stelo – a distinctive Engineering Firm from Canada that offers innovative solutions and expertise in Asset Management Governance & Intelligent Asset Performance Management. Alex explained and showcased the impact of increase in the life span of assets on company’s ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) performance and how to measure the carbon, water and biodiversity footprints using GHG Quantification (ISO 14064) and Life Cycle Analysis (ISO 14040/44). Based on the data and decision-support tool, investments in CAPEX and OPEX can be prioritized.
- Mikaela Decio is the Corporate Environmental Sustainability Manager from Mapei SpA, Italy – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chemical products for the building industry. Mikaela provided an international prospectives on how to reduce carbon footprint in durable systems by using LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) and EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) to avoid greenwashing in the European market. She compared different pathways to restore structural damages or to build more durable structures against aggressive environmental exposure and their resulting GWPs (Global Warming Potential).
The speakers established a mood of excitement, innovation, and possibility. By late morning, we were split into groups where we would discuss and debate ideas related to questions provided by P+Ex to guide the focus of P+Ex as it finds its first full-time executive director and gets to work.
First, the room.
Workshop participants were a mixture of carefully cultivated individuals and volunteer participants of international and domestic origin including concrete repair contractors, new build contractors, local government engineering departments, precast industry representatives, concrete engineering designers, concrete testing lab folks, concrete admixture suppliers, cement producers, material scientists, steel industry innovators, corrosion control specialists, concrete sustainability experts, and concrete repair specialists.
Whoa.
The participants mirrored P+Ex’s goal of bringing together everyone across the concrete industry to collaborate toward service life extension and preservation.
Second, the questions.
From mid-morning until 5:00 PM, we worked in groups to answer, compile, and present responses to two questions posed by P+Ex. The room was not locked–we were fed lunch and snacks and could use the facilities if we asked nicely–but we were expected to produce results.
The questions were:
- What are the benefits of service life extension (each group was given a strategy to discuss)?
- How do we communicate the benefits of service life extension?
I knew no one in my group and, prior to attending the workshop, had only limited interaction with a few others who were there. It was a breath of fresh air to discuss concrete service life with individuals from around the industry. It was NOT an echo chamber.
The goal of the workshop was not to come up with all of the answers but to begin documenting the possible ways that P+Ex can focus its efforts. P+Ex took the information generated from the day and compiled it into a document that will be added to the ideas from the next workshops.
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