An Introduction to The Road Forward

In January 2022, NAPA announced an industry vision for achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This webinar introduces participants to the basics of net zero and provides insights into the industry plan for achieving this ambitious goal.

Speakers:
Richard Willis, NAPA
Steve Muench, University of Washington
Ron Sines, CRH Americas Materials Inc.

Recorded May 2, 2022

The Results Are In: NAPA & FHWA's Recycled Materials & Warm Mix Survey

Since 2009, NAPA and FHWA have been collecting data on the use of recycled materials and warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technologies in the asphalt pavement industry. This webinar will provide the latest data on the use of materials such as reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), recycled asphalt shingles, (RAS), WMA and more.

Speakers:
Tim Aschenbrenner, FHWA
Brett Williams, NAPA
Joseph Shacat, NAPA

Recorded May 25, 2022

An Introduction to LCCA & LCA: The Tools of the Trade for Life Cycle Thinking

Life cycle thinking provides a framework for understanding the economic and environmental aspects of a product over its complete life cycle. The pavement community commonly uses life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) to understand agency costs and user costs throughout the entire life cycle of a pavement. Agencies and other stakeholders are also starting to use life cycle assessments (LCAs) to quantify the potential environmental impacts of pavement designs at both an individual project level and a network level. This webinar will provide an overview of LCCA and LCA, with a focus on how these tools are applied to pavements to aid decision-making. 

Speakers:
John Harvey, University of California, Davis
Bill Buttlar, University of Missouri-Columbia

Recorded June 6, 2022

Quantifying GHG Emissions for the Asphalt Paving Industry

Increasingly, paving contractors are being asked by stakeholders to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their operations. This may come in the form of demand from shareholders for corporate GHG emissions reporting, customer requirements for environmental product declarations, or internal initiatives for process improvement to achieve emission reduction goals. Various tools exist that allow organizations to quantify GHG emissions, each of which has its own methodology, scope, and system boundaries. This webinar explores the various tools and approaches that organizations use to quantify GHG emissions associated with asphalt pavements, ranging from direct emissions associated with operations to cradle-to-grave life cycle assessments (LCAs).

Speakers:
Raven Adams, Granite Construction
Heather Dylla, Construction Partners Inc.
Milena Rangelov, FHWA

Recorded July 26, 2022

The Low Hanging Fruit: Readily Available Technologies and Practices to Reduce GHG Emissions

The previous webinar in NAPA’s Road to Zero series focused on ways to quantify GHG emissions. But with an ambitious goal of achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050, lots of folks in the asphalt pavement community want to know what they can do now to reduce GHG emissions. The good news is that there are numerous opportunities to optimize asphalt pavement materials, mix production practices, paving operations, and pavement design. This webinar will explore the readily available technologies and practices that can be used to reduce GHG emissions..

Speakers:
Shane Buchanan, CRH Americas Materials, Inc.
Brett Williams, NAPA

Recorded August 18, 2022

GHG Emissions Inventory for the U.S. Asphalt Mix Production Industry

In July 2022, NAPA published the first national assessment of GHG emissions associated with asphalt mixture production in the United States. This webinar takes a deep dive into the details of the emissions inventory report. We’ll start by exploring the methodology and the underlying datasets that were used to calculate GHG emissions, with a goal of understanding how changes in industry practices have affected GHG emissions during the period from 2009 to 2019. We’ll then explore the potential GHG emissions reductions that can be achieved through widespread implementation of readily available technologies and practices.

Speakers:
Joseph Shacat, NAPA
J. Richard Willis, NAPA

Recorded September 22, 2022

Pushing the Envelope: Long-Term Research and Implementation Needs to Reduce GHG Emissions

Several of the previous webinars in NAPA’s Road to Zero series have discussed the GHG emissions reductions associated with readily available technologies and practices. Although substantial reductions can be achieved, it is clear that getting to net zero will require the development of new mix production technologies and low carbon materials, and widespread implementation of these practices, akin to no less than a “moon shot” for the asphalt pavement community. This webinar will explore the long-term research and implementation efforts that will be needed over the coming decades to achieve net zero GHG emissions across the asphalt pavement industry.

The Road Does What? How Pavements Impact Fuel Economy

A lot of effort has recently been spent on zero-emission vehicles; however, most drivers don’t understand that the pavement can have some impact on their vehicle fuel economy as well. Over the past forty years, people have been trying to better understand and model how pavement smoothness, texture, and structure impacts excess fuel consumption.

Speakers:
Mark Hoffman, Ph.D, Auburn University
Kiran Mohanraj, P.E., The Transtec Group Inc.

Recorded December 15, 2022

Tools for Cutting Costs and Emissions during Asphalt Production

Are you interested in learning about strategies to optimize asphalt production with a focus on proven methods to save money and reduce emissions? This webinar will delve into the practical implications of QIP-126 and QIP-127, exploring how they can be effectively applied in real-world asphalt production facilities. This is a must attend webinar for those looking to enhance their plant operations efficiency and make meaningful strides towards achieving the industry’s sustainability goals set out in The Road Forward. 

Speaker:
TJ Young

Recorded October 18, 2023

US Asphalt Industry EPD Benchmark: 1st Edition

In order to use funds available in the Inflation Reduction Act for substantially lower carbon construction materials, agencies have to be able to compare environmental product declarations (EPDs) to industry benchmarks. Over the summer, NAPA worked with WAP Sustainability to create the first set of industry benchmarks. In this webinar, we’ll present the results of data submitted by more than 300 asphalt plants across the country.

Attendees will be able to: 

• Appreciate the advantages to contractors in accessing IRA funds by of industry benchmarks rather than a single national average
• Discover how regionality impacts different asphalt plant energy use.
• Learn how material choices and standards can impact the ability for a contractor to reduce emissions.

Speakers:
Alman Mukherjee, WAP Sustainability
Ben Ciavola, WAP Sustainability
Lianna Miller, WAP Sustainability
Joseph Shacat, NAPA

Recorded October 19, 2023