• Herdhome® Shelters - a concrete solution to sustainable dairying
• Creacrete™ - exploring new sides of concrete
• Zero Waste - interlocking blocks made from residual concrete
• CCANZ Opinion - the case for concrete road barriers
• Concrete Canvas - flexible fibrous cement
• Cement Stabilisation - a dustless technology on Mt Maunganui's Harbour Link project
• Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) - crushable concrete that could save your life
• and our regular features - upfront, people and news from the associations.

To view this issue click here

March Issue of Grey Matters

This month's issue of Grey Matters includes information on the following:

Concrete Barriers Safest Option

CCANZ Chief Executive, Patrick McGuire, recently outlined the advantages of concrete road safety barriers over the currently preferred wire rope option, in New Zealand two most widely circulated daily newspapers:

Read the opinion piece -
Concrete Barriers Safest Option.

Concrete Masonry : Compliance with Clause H1 – Energy Efficiency

The New Zealand Building Code (NZBC) Clause H1 has as its objective the efficient use of energy in buildings. The performance requirements as they relate to housing and amended on the 13 August 2007 are, ‘Buildings must be constructed to ensure that their Building Performance index (BPI) does not exceed 1.55’.

View the CCANZ Information Bulletin:

CCANZ voices regular opinion in New Zealand Construction News magazine

Since early 2007 CCANZ Chief Executive, Patrick McGuire, has commented on topical issues in the national trade publication New Zealand Construction News.

NZ Concrete Industry Conference - Call for Papers

The NZ Concrete Industry Conference 2008 is to be held in Rotorua from 2-4 October.

A call for papers has been sent out to industry.

Visit the New Zealand Concrete Society website for further information.

CCANZ release Key Government Issues paper

There are a number of significant policy issues affecting the New Zealand building and construction industry. CCANZ recently distributed a briefing paper to all Members of Parliament and select government departments and agencies, which presents CCANZ’s response to the Government’s policy platform on these key industry issues.

By discussing issues in areas such as sustainability, building legislation, infrastructure, standards and education, the briefing paper seeks to inform further debate and associated policy development. View the paper:

CCANZ launch sustainability initiative - Concrete³

Hon Clayton Cosgrove, Minister for Building and Construction, recently launched Concrete³, an initiative to raise awareness of the sustainable qualities of concrete.

Spearheaded by the Cement and Concrete Association of New Zealand (CCANZ), the initiative endorses concrete’s contribution to New Zealand’s sustainable development across all areas of economic, social and environmental endeavour.

Concrete³ aims to assist architects, engineers, policy makers, contractors and clients, as well as others involved with the design, construction and operation of buildings and infrastructure to make more informed choices.