Visit NAPA's Asphalt Consumer Center for detailed information on driveways and asphalt plants. Get the answers you want about the #1 recycled product in America. Sponsored by Beyond Roads.
The time has come at last: A conference committee of U.S. Representatives and Senators will start meeting in a few days to hammer out a highway bill. Washington insiders are increasingly confident that a robustly funded, multi-year surface transportation reauthorization will get done by the deadline of June 30. The Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In on May 30-31 provides the perfect opportunity for you to have an impact on the way the bill gets done.
Still not convinced that your voice can make a difference? Kurt Bechthold, NAPA's 2012 chairman, tells how being a citizen lobbyist is a key part of his job, both as NAPA chair and as president of a family business, Payne & Dolan Inc. in Wisconsin.
NAPA Economic Study Finds Flaws in Material-Specific Discount Rates LCCA Proposal
The National Asphalt Pavement Association has released a report on life-cycle cost analysis procedures which examines in depth the concept of the material-specific discount rate. "Material-Specific Discount Rate: Inappropriate for Life-Cycle Cost Analysis" (NAPA Special Report 203) outlines standard and customary life-cycle cost analysis models. It also shines a light on a “material-specific discount rate,” which is being promoted by the cement and concrete industries.
NAPA’s report reveals that the material-specific discount rate is not a concept economists use or accept. Instead, it was suggested in a 2011 report as a computational work-around by the Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH). The CSH, located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is funded by the Portland Cement Association and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association.
The CSH report is being used to support legislation in Congress mandating the use of a material-specific discount rate in life-cycle cost analyses when comparing alternative designs for publicly funded projects, including pavements, bridges, and buildings. If adopted, a material-specific discount rate could skew life-cycle cost analyses for construction materials, including asphalt, concrete, steel, wood, and plastics. Read more
Asphalt pavement is not only America’s most recycled and reused material, it now is being recycled and reused at a rate over 99 percent. Use of environmentally friendly warm-mix asphalt grew by more than 148 percent from 2009 to 2010, a trend that is expected to continue. Recycling of asphalt pavements and asphalt shingles in 2010 alone conserved 20.5 million barrels of asphalt binder.
These are some of the key findings in a new survey of asphalt pavement usage, which NAPA completed under contract to the Federal Highway Administration. The report, titled Asphalt Pavement Mix Production Survey: 2009-2010 (NAPA Information Series 138), is available as a free download. The survey examined the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), recycled asphalt shingles (RAS), and warm-mix asphalt (WMA) in 2009 and 2010. RAP, RAS, and WMA conserve raw materials; conserve energy; cut emissions from production and paving operations; and improve conditions for workers.
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