Concrete Construction Comes of Age

Originally built and opened in the 1960s, the Bethany Terrace is a health and rehabilitation center that is now adding 45 new assisted living apartments to hold up to 50% more residents than the 120 currently living there. The project architect suggested using precast concrete for the addition, called Terrace Gardens Assisted Living, because it is able to give the right look, does not require any variances, and can be placed quickly and cost effectively.

Located in Morton Grove, just north of Chicago, the Bethany Terrace is an Illinois State-licensed facility that provides skilled and intermediate long-term care for residents—needs which are forecast to increase throughout the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of persons aged 65 and older is expected to double between 2000 and 2030, from approximately 35 million to an estimated 71 million. Those aged 80 years and older is expected to grow from 9.3 million to 19.5 million during the same period. (Click on graph for more details.)

Older residents often have additional or specialized needs that affect design and choice of building materials:
> fire safety—limited mobility can result in unsafe conditions if fire strikes, so fire resistant construction is mandatory
> accessibility—limited mobility can also hamper daily circulation, but open floor plans allow for easy access to help maintain personal independence
> increased privacy—close/small living quarters call for better soundproofing
> comfort—well insulated walls for appropriate interior temperatures, whether hotter or cooler than neighbors

Walls and floors of the 44,000 sq ft addition are being built with precast concrete; it is noncombustible for fire resistance, has structural capacity for open floor plans and wide hallways, mass for sound dampening, and thermal mass for comfortable interiors—a good fit for the residents’ needs. In spite of a continuing tough economy, there is a growing need for assisted living facilities and concrete’s inherent benefits.
Contact Jamie Farny

Environment, Economy Key Concerns of Attendees of Cement Industry Technical Conference

The 52nd annual IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference, March 31-April 1, 2010, hosted 695 attendees in Colorado Springs, Colo., and showcased dozens of technical presentations and more than 130 cement industry vendors.

Conference highlights included a keynote address by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., (pictured left with PCA Chair Enrique Escalante and President/CEO Brian McCarthy) along with an economic update by PCA Chief Economist, Ed Sullivan. In addition, Alice Madden, Governor Ritter’s climate change advisor spoke on “Achieving a New Energy Economy.”

The meeting also included a reprisal of PCA’s Environmental Workshop with more than 300 attending presentations related to the proposed NESHAP regulations and climate change issues. The workshop included participation from the EPA with Keith Barnett providing an update on NESHAP regulations and Mausami Desai addressing questions on the recent greenhouse gas reporting rule.

Pete Paone, FLSmidth, Inc. received top honors this year for his technical paper and presentation, Mercury Controls for the Cement Industry.

The conference concluded with a tour of GCC’s state-of-the-art Pueblo plant. The plant, commissioned in 2008, has a capacity of 2900 short tons per day. Plant personnel were on hand earlier in the week to present an intensive one-day tutorial related to all aspects of manufacturing.

Next year’s conference will be held May 22-26, in St. Louis, Mo., and will include tours of the Holcim (US) Inc. Ste. Genevieve plant along with the Buzzi Unicem USA Festus plant.
For more information visit www.ieeepcaconference.org
Contact Rick Bohan

Georgia Green Code Task Force Accepts PCA Proposal

In a major milestone for PCA’s strategy of promoting green building codes directly to local jurisdictions, a Georgia code body has accepted a PCA proposal setting standards for driveways and other paved residential surfaces.

The Georgia Statewide Codes Advisory Council appointed a Residential Green Building Code (RGBC) Task Force to develop an optional green building code for local governments in Georgia. The Task Force based the green code on the International Code Council ICC-700 National Green Building Standard.  Although ICC 700 covers all types of residential buildings, the code for Georgia will be limited to one - and two-family dwellings three stories or less in height. The task force is reviewing this standard and will make recommendations to the Advisory Council regarding its adoption and any supplement amendments.

PCA and the Georgia Concrete & Products Association (GC&PA) submitted two proposals for amendments. The first proposal was based on PCA’s High Performance Building Requirements for Sustainability rewritten to address residential code requirements (including resilience and sustainable features). The second proposal sets minimum standards for driveways and paved areas that includes durability.

Fortunately, the proposal for the paving standards  with durability was positively accepted by the Task Force on March 16. The first proposal that included sustainability and resilience for buildings provoked some positive thought and conversation, but ultimately it was denied. Work is continuing to shepherd the pavement proposal through the full approval process of the Advisory Council.
Contact Lori Tiefenthaler

PCA Launches Paving Blog

In support of PCA’s advertising campaign and other marketing communications on concrete paving, PCA has launched a pavement blog.

Titled “Think Concrete, the blog resides on the micro-site anchoring the ad campaign and industry imaging/branding effort, “Think Harder. Concrete.” PCA will also post blog entries on Twitter as @ThinkConcrete.

The goal is to inter-activity and broader participation to paving outreach with a forum for comments. PCA will post news about notable concrete projects, best practices, association resources, and more.
Visit the Blog
Contact Bruce McIntosh

Reminder: PCA Spring Meeting Registration Open

Registration is open for the PCA spring committee and Board meetings, April 26-28, 2010, at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare.

Most committees of PCA's Research and Technical Council and Market Promotion Council will meet, as well as committees of the Cement Association of Canada.  In addition, the Boards of PCA, CTLGroup, and the Cement Association of Canada; the Education Foundation, and the PCA Government Affairs Council will hold meetings.

PCA Energy & Environment Awards and Safety Awards will also be presented.
Register for the meeting online
Contact Michelle Nyquist

Call for Papers for 2011 IEEE-IAS/PCA

The Cement Industry Committee is soliciting abstracts for the 53rd annual IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference scheduled for May 22-26, 2011, in St. Louis.

Papers that address critical issues facing the cement industry and that pose unique and innovative solutions that address those issues are especially invited.

Authors are encouraged to submit papers in the areas of: general practices, automation, power generation and distribution, drives and related products, maintenance, safety, energy, the environment and sustainability. Papers are selected on the basis of interest to conference attendees and applicability to the cement industry.

Interested parties should send an abstract of 200 words or less to Ted Richardson by September 30, 2010.
Contact Rick Bohan