Welcome to Clemson Brick Forum

The Clemson Brick Forum is fast approaching and will take place in Anderson, South Carolina (USA) on September 30th to October 2nd. The first meeting held in 1955 which would later become known as the Clemson Brick Forum was dedicated to educating brick makers about the most relevant technological issue of the day – tunnel kilns. This will be the 59th year for the Clemson Brick Forum, which has thrived by staying focused on its core mission of providing timely information to the brick industry.

It is hoped that the program for the 2013 Clemson Brick Forum will prepare brick makers to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow by facilitating communications about key issues. This year’s program focuses on three areas that are important to today’s brick industry. The first focus area will deal with challenges and opportunities for the brick industry in the United States. This session will explore how the inherent sustainability and performance of fired clay brick can be used to increase the usage of brick. The presentations will also include new ideas and applications for fired clay brick, and deal with the industry’s response to changes in building and energy codes as well as meeting the challenges of competitive materials.

The second session will focus on the traditional presentations about best practices and plant upgrades. There will be a number of presentations dealing with the best ways to restart idle plants and kilns and presentations related to improving quality and productivity while ensuring the health and safety of workers in the plant. These talks have always been by brick people and for brick people and represent the foundation of the Forum.

In the final Forum session, we will focus on environmental issues including the pending MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) rule for brick and the upcoming revision of NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards).

The Forum is also an opportunity to see the latest products and technologies from the Sponsors of the Forum, as well as a chance for fellowship with friends and to meet new people in the industry. I would like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to anyone interested in attending the Clemson Brick Forum this year. We look forward to seeing you there. More information about the 2013 Clemson Brick Forum is available at www.brickandtile.org

Yours

John P. Sanders, Ph.D. PE

Director “The National Brick ResearchCenter”