You’ve probably heard of the Little Black Book – the book of secrets! But that’s not the only book named for a color. We’ve been hard at work requesting revisions to The Greenbook that designates our industry’s material product and specifications. First published in 1967, The Greebook was a product of a 400-person task force of the Southern California Chapter of the American Public Works Association and the Southern California Districts of the Associated General Contractors of California. Since then, the guide has gone through many updates, been adopted by ​​more than 200 other California cities, counties, and agencies, and served as inspiration for other public works officials around the world. A new edition is published every three years. Bob Rivers, part of Polyco’s sales team, has been a key member of The Greenbook committee working to update viscosity recommendations to create an attainable specification for multiple suppliers. 

Typically, changes take five to seven years, but this one took only two and half years from start to finish. This change is a big win because it levels the playing field. Asphalt producers can now use soluble rubber in combination with a hybrid serine, urethane serine, or polymer to make an easier-to-handle, more consistent product in the field. 

The revised version of The Greenbook will be distributed electronically and in hard copy in January. Before then, there will be an addendum published in the next three or so weeks accepting the updated viscosity parameters. 

Now that you know about our updated Greenbook, quiz yourself on other industries’ colorful books:

The Beige Book 

The Red Book

The Yellow Book

The Blue Book

And a bonus! The TxDOT Specification Book, which can now be downloaded as a free PDF.