In a recent signing ceremony, Bureau Veritas and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the certification body for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building program, finalized the terms of their exclusive global agreement to facilitate LEED certification internationally.

Atlas Copco launched new versions of its Cobra PROe and Cobra TTe gas-powered hand-held breakers. The breakers are available with two tool shank sizes, which allow rental centers to achieve high utilization rates and ROI by offering customers versatile equipment.

Gardco introduced a new tool, the Pundit PL-200PE. This new device employs state-of-the-art pulse echo technology to extend the ultrasonic application to objects where access is restricted to a single side, such as single-side determination of concrete slab thickness or detection and localization of voids, pipes, delaminations and honeycombing.

Mattingly Concrete in Indianapolis, Indiana, has announced the recipient of its inaugural Mattingly Concrete Inc. "Blue Collar Scholar" Book Scholarship. College student and athlete Casey Virgin met and surpassed the requirements for this honor.

W. R. Meadows announced that Air-Shield, one of its air/vapor and liquid barrier products, has been evaluated by the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA) and listed on its website.

HTC America has run training classes in concrete grinding and polishing for nearly a decade. HTC is now using the name HTC Academy for all training efforts.

Common Ground Alliance (CGA) announced findings from its comprehensive 2014 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report, which confirmed again the importance of making a free call to 811 to reach a local one call center as the simplest and easiest way to reduce excavation-related damage to underground facilities. According to the report, when an excavator notifies a one call center before digging, damage can be avoided more than 99 percent of the time.

Watershed Materials, a California-based building materials technology startup, has developed a solution to produce high-strength masonry with a low-carbon footprint using natural mineral-based geopolymers. The technology allows for natural clays found readily all over the planet to be turned into reliable masonry products, and offers a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete masonry. Recent test samples have achieved compressive strengths of 7,000 psi – twice the strength of ordinary concrete -and have demonstrated remarkable resistance to water and chemical erosion.

ToolCrete has announced its new GFRC (3-jet downward) Sprayer for concrete countertop and mold applications. This tool will apply high-fibered GFRC and aggregate-filled mixes fast and evenly. The hopper holds approximately a gallon at a time and with the proper compressor users can fill a countertop or concrete mold with more than 10 pounds of GFRC in less than 60 seconds.

The American Concrete Institute announced that they are mourning the passing of Daniel W. Falconer, ACI Managing Director of Engineering who passed away peacefully on July 29, 2015, at age 59, in his Hartland, Michigan, home surrounded by his family, after a 16-month battle with colon cancer.