The Marble Institute of America (MIA) went to Washington late last month to give some federal officials a piece of advice ... about natural stone.



The MIA spent a full day on March 29 in training 50 architects, engineers, and project managers at the Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO). These officials are responsible for the building, restoration and maintenance of U.S. embassies around the world; most existing and planned embassy buildings feature extensive use of natural stone.



"The OBO chose the MIA to help train its staff on stone properties, anchorage requirements and testing details, among a host of topics," said Gary Distelhorst, MIA executive vice president. "The training of key government officials who have choices about the products they select is a continuation of current efforts to expand the knowledge of members of the architectural and design communities."



MIA Technical Director Chuck Muehlbauer led the training session, offering his years of experience in the industry, including knowledge of critical testing requirements. MIA President Brett Rugo also assisted with the seminar.



"My agency will often use natural stone as a building cladding for its new embassy compound building program," said Steven Gigliotti, RA and OBO project architect. "Aesthetics and performance of this material is critical. I found the training on stone use, design and testing provided by the Marble Institute to be very useful."

Each participant received a copy of the MIA's Dimension Stone Design Manual, the industry's most-comprehensive source for construction details about natural stone.