PAVING SUSTAINABILITY ON THE AGENDA AT SEPT INTERNATIONAL PAVING CONFERENCE IN BUENOS AIRES:
Article Date: 09 June 2009
th.jpg) The Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) says sustainability and the environment will feature prominently at this year’s SEPT, the Small Element Paving Technologists conference which is taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 18th to 21st .
CMA director, John Cairns, who is a member of the international SEPT committee, says concrete block paver (CBP) producers are becoming increasingly aware of carbon footprint issues and the conference will serve as an international forum for the exchange of green ideas and technologies.
“Other green-related issues such as permeable concrete block paving (PCBP), landscaping and public spaces are also on the Buenos Aires agenda. Since the last SEPT conference, held three years ago in San Francisco, PCBP has established a significant foothold in South Africa, with the latest and most prominent PCBP installation being the recently paved Grand Parade square in the centre of Cape Town,” says Cairns.
Cairns will himself be presenting two papers at this year’s SEPT, one of which examines PCBP installations and applications that have taken place in South Africa to date. The other covers South Africa’s new paving standard, SANS 1058.
Cairns believes PCBP has a very important role to play in South Africa’s storm water management as local authorities increasingly specify some form of water attenuation on new property developments.
Roughly 60 papers will be presented by delegates from around the world. SEPT conferences and workshops, which attract worldwide interest, generate technical information on interlocking concrete pavements, PCBP pavements and concrete paving slabs.
The SEPT executive committee, comprising 20 CBP (concrete block paving) experts from around the world, meet every 18 months, at triennial conferences, and once between them, at planning workshops.
Cairns says that in addition to the Buenos Aires conference a SEPT workshop will be held in Germany during May 2011, and thereafter the next SEPT conference will be held in Shanghai in October 2012.
Although officially closed, late registrations are being accepted. Interested parties should visit the conference website on www.iccbp2009.com .
.jpg)
Members of the SEPT committee seen here at their last meeting in Sydney, Australia. The CMA’s John Cairns is standing in the back row (2nd from right).
DATE June, 2009
ISSUED BY David Beer Communication Consultants
FOR Concrete Manufacturers Association
ENQUIRIES John Cairns (011) 805 6742
David Beer (011) 478 0239 or 082 880 6726. Email: bigsky@ibi.co.za
|
.jpg)