Dr Mohammed Alhaj Hussein
الإستشاري الدكتور
Dr Mohammed Alhaj Hussein
Jeddah 21499
Saudi Arabia
dralhaj2
النجمة الخضراء- GREEN STAR
http://www.nrmca.org/operations/ENVIRONMENT/certifications_greenstar.htm
Green-Star.
Environmental Course. Regulatory Issues.
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Introduction
The Green-Star Program of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has been designed by the Environmental Task Group of the Operations, Environment and Safety Committee (NRMCA-OES) as a means to support the efforts of the ready mixed concrete industry towards environmental excellence, through the recognition of the use of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) as a tool for environmental benchmarking and continual improvement, and as a means to recognize those who adhere to essential principals of the environmental and sustainability movement of our industry.
The Green-Star Program will serve as a useful mechanism to recognize those within the industry who have achieved or are actively working towards environmental excellence and/or a demonstrable reduction of environmental impacts, following the principals of sustainability. It will also provide a formal opportunity for the recognition of those companies through a rigorous, structured certification process capable of withstanding third-party oversight. The foundation of the Green-Star program was created in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Highways Partnership and the 10 Guiding Principles of Environmental Stewardship.
Benefits of Green-Star Certification
The Green-Star Program will recognize those facilities with an Environmental Management System. Some potential benefits of Green-Star Certification include:
Favored Status – Customers favor doing business with organizations that are known to be protective of the environment.
Increased Profits – Organizations will attain savings through its efforts in pollution prevention and waste reduction.
Improved Efficiency – Sound, consistent environmental management methods will improve profits.
Community Goodwill – An organization's stand on environmental policy and action may be the most important factor in achieving and maintaining the community’s goodwill.
Reduction of Liability and Risk – An organization is less apt to have environmental problems by using a proactive EMS that documents results and has continual improvement.
The NRMCA encourages all companies to take a closer look at the Green-Star Program and its existing Environmental Management System and start the process of becoming Green-Star Certified.
The Green-Star Model of Continual Improvement
The Green-Star Program utilizes a company’s existing Environmental Management System based on the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" model of continual improvement.
Considering that the Green-Star Program has been created to provide the ready mixed concrete industry with an “industry specific” program that focuses on the unique operational characteristics of the industry, it may therefore serve to fill the gap between industry efforts and other Environmental Management Systems (EMS)-based certification programs (e.g., USEPA Performance Track, ISO 14001, etc.). While it is not meant to take the place of such programs, it can serve as an effective alternative to these programs due to its enhanced accessibility to the concrete industry.
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Ten Guiding Principles of Environmental Stewardship:(Summarization Only)
Top Management Commitment:
Make top management commitments to improve environmental performance through policies and programs.
Compliance Assurance:
Implement environmental auditing, assessment and improvement programs to identify and correct current and potential compliance problems and work to improve overall environmental performance.
Enabling Systems:
Develop and foster implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) which provide a framework for ensuring day-to-day environmental compliance.
Measurement and Continual Improvement:
Develop measures of environmental performance to demonstrate adherence to these Principles. Periodically assess the programs toward meeting the organizations environmental goals and tie results to actions in improving environmental performance.
Public Communications:
Voluntarily make available to the public, information on the organizations environmental performance relative to these Principles (i.e., website).
Industry Leadership:
Work with other companies to improve industry-wide environmental compliance and overall environmental performance.
Community Environmental Stewardship:
Promote and give support to environmental stewardship and sustainable development in the community in which the facility resides.
Awareness & Outreach:
Work cooperatively to ensure that increased awareness is achieved through proactive outreach and community initiatives (i.e., website).
Training and Development:
Key environmental training requirements are identified and programs developed and supported by top management.
Research and Demonstration:
Conduct development initiatives and solutions that drive environmental performance excellence and share lessons learned. The Ready Mixed Concrete Research and Education Foundation will support environmental initiatives.
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Program at a glance: Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
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As a concrete plant manager, environmental manager, compliance manager, executive or anyone with fiscal and/or environmental responsibilities, do you know the details concerning your company’s responsibilities when it comes to EPA regulations, the Clean Water Act, Discharge Permits, Stormwater Management, and a host of other critical environmental matters. If not you’ll benefit from NRMCA’s Environmental Professional Certification Course; 2½ days of intense learning on environmental issues facing the ready mixed concrete industry; including a new module on implementing the NRMCA Green-Star Plant Certification.This course gives you the tools, information and hands-on experience you need at your facilities.-----------------------------------------------
Dr Mohammed Alhaj Hussein wrote:
Thanks for God. Within few months only, i had finshed the inspection and the evalution of all ready mix concrete in Jeddah, some in Taif, Qaseem and Dubai in UAE.
Dear Dr Mohammed Alhaj Hussein,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
With Green-Star, realize that it has a certain set or requirements, which are similar but not necessarily identical to the ISO 14001 standards. Green-Star is the creation of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association here in the US (but can apply to any NRMCA member or non-member in the ready mixed concrete industry worldwide), while ISO 14001 is the international set ISO standards. They are both similar, in that they both are an EMS-based (Environmental management System) certification program. ISO 14001 usually requires more documentation and is more in-depth that what Green-Star requires, so if a facility is ISO 14001 certified, () it is likely that it may meet the requirement for Green-Star right away.
Principal Environmental Consultant for Green-Star
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في تطور غريب : يرفض مصنعين معتمدين في أمانة جدة حضور الدورة البيئية المقررة في نوفمبر 2008 م بخصوص النجمة الخضراء الأمريكية أوإستكمال متطلبات هذه الشهادة البيئية الهامة لظنهما أنها من الكماليات الغير مهمة في بلادنا مع أن هذه الشهادة ضرورية لبقاء المصنع في مدن متقدمة كدبي وأمريكا وأوروبا
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Member in USGBC (GREEN BUILDING ), Florida, USA
2008- Certified Concrete Industry Environmental Professional and Green Star Audit for Ready Mix concrete, NRMCA, USA
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Dr Mohammed Alhaj Hussein
Jeddah 21499
Saudi Arabia
dralhaj2