Hyattsville , MD – The Gypsum Association is pleased to announce that the Association’s Assistant Executive Director and Director of Technical Services, Robert A. Wessel, Ph.D., has been appointed to the chairmanship of ASTM subcommittee E60.01 on Buildings and Construction, which is a subcommittee under the ASTM International technical committee E60 on Sustainability. Publications under the E60.01 subcommittee’s purview include: E1991, Standard Guide for Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Building Materials/Products; E2129, Standard Practice for Data Collection for Sustainability Assessment of Building Products; E2392, Standard Guide for Design of Earthen Wall Building Systems; and several standards concerning Green Roof Systems.

Wessel comments, “It’s an honor to be chosen to preside over a subcommittee that is certain to grow in its scope as more attention is given to improving the sustainability of our built environment. The construction products industry as a whole is eager to do its part to ensure that new buildings are designed and constructed with the lowest possible negative impact on our environment. Consequently, the work we do in E 60, including E 60.01, will be very instrumental in creating a new generation of buildings that strives to preserve as many of our natural resources as possible.”

Wessel has represented the Gypsum Association at ASTM since the mid 1980s. During those years he has served as Secretary of C-11, Membership Secretary of E-05 and as a member of the Committee on Technical Committee Operations (COTCO), sat on numerous task groups within E-05 and C-11, and is currently an active member of 11 ASTM committees. Wessel was presented with the ASTM Award of Merit in 2000.

The Gypsum Association is in its 79th year of service as the technical, promotion, and information center of the gypsum industry. The Association, representing gypsum board manufacturing companies located throughout the United States and Canada, is located in Hyattsville, Maryland.

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