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NEWS AMERICAS STREVEL, BLAND JOIN PCA-SOUTHEAST Portland Cement Association-Southeast Region recently added two new pavement applications directors. Bryan Strevel, pavement applications director in Ten- nessee, and Stan Bland, pavement appli- cations Virginia, joined the staff in early October. With 14 years of experience in the con- crete industry, Strevel will partner with the Concrete Paving Association of Tennessee promoting integrated paving solutions in- volving cement- and concrete-based solu- tions. Prior to joining PCA-SE, Strevel most recently worked for the SEFA Group. Bland has 40 years of experience in director in the Carolinas and highway construction and maintenance for the South Carolina Department of Transportation. For 14 years, he served as an advocate for full-depth reclama- tion and other recycling techniques and the district engineer administrator for 10 years. As the district engineering ad- ministrator, Bland maintained constant interaction with state senators, repre- sentatives, and highway commissioners as well as county and city officials. Most recently, Bland was the state pavement reclamation engineer. NAHB IMPROVING MARKETS INDEX ENVIRONMENT Four Buzzi plants receive Energy Star recognition Buzzi Unicem USA recently announced that the U.S. En- vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have awarded four of its plants the Energy Star label for their superior energy per- formance. Buzzi's plants in Festus, Mo.; Maryneal, Texas; Pryor, Okla.; and Sig- nal Mountain, Tenn., received the honor. This marks the third consecutive year the Festus, Maryneal, and Signal Mountain plants have re- ceived certification, while it is the first year that the Pryor plant received the award. In order to qualify for En- ergy Star recognition, cement plants must score at least 75 on the Energy Performance Indicator, used by the EPA to measure energy efficiency. In addition, the plant must have a three-year history of envi- ronmental compliance. The Energy Star program is a joint initiative by the EPA and DOE that focuses on strate- gic energy management and emphasizes the importance of demonstrating environ- mental leadership for future generations. 8 EXPANDS TO 30 METROPOLITAN AREAS The number of improving housing mar- kets continued to expand for a third consecutive month in November, rising from 23 to 30 on the latest National As- sociation of Home Builders/First Ameri- can Improving Markets Index. The list dropped two metropolitan areas and added nine new ones—Fort Collins, Colo.; Hinesville, Ga.; Davenport, Iowa; Monroe, La.; Lima, Ohio; Williamsport, Pa.; Corpus Christi and Tyler, Texas; and, Cheyenne, Wyo. The index identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in housing permits, employment and housing prices. The fol- lowing were listed in November: Anchor- age and Fairbanks, Alaska; Jonesboro and Pine Bluff, Ariz.; Fort Collins, Colo.; Hinesville, Ga.; Kankakee, Ill.; Davenport and Waterloo, Iowa; Alexandria, Houma, Monroe and New Orleans, La.; Fayet- teville and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Bis- marck, N.D.; Lima, Ohio; Pittsburgh and Williamsport, Pa.; Sumter, S.C.; Amarillo, Corpus Christi, McAllen, Midland, Odessa, Sherman, Tyler and Waco, Texas; and, Casper and Cheyenne, Wyo. "Texas continues to dominate the list of improving housing markets in No- vember, increasing its net number of entries to eight and continuing a trend in which energy-producing metros seem to be doing better than the aver- age," said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev. "Mean- while, the geographic diversity of met- ros also continued to expand this month, with the states of Colorado, Georgia and Ohio all represented for the first time. This is further evidence that all housing markets are uniquely dependent upon local conditions, and some are leading the way toward an eventual, broader recovery." "The November IMI remains heavily weighted by smaller cities, with Pitts- burgh and New Orleans as the only major metros represented," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "This is indicative of the tough conditions that continue to prevail across much of the country, particularly in larger markets that have been hit hardest by job losses and foreclosures during the recession and that will take more time to heal. However, momentum is building in pock- ets of the country where energy and agriculture are the dominant industries and where consistent, measurable im- provements in economic conditions are now becoming apparent." The two metropolitan areas that dropped off of the improving markets list in November were Iowa City, Iowa, and Wichita Falls, Kan.—areas experi- encing declines in their employment and permit data, respectively. CEMENT AMERICAS • November/December 2011 • www.cementamericas.com