East Parkside Uses ICFs to Rebuild Homes and Strengthen the Community

The urban neighborhood of East Parkside on Philadelphia’s west side is home to several local attractions, parks, museums, and more than 1,600 residential and commercial sites.

Beginning in the fall of 2008, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia and BASF Corporation partnered with the East Parkside Community Revitalization Corporation on a restoration project to transform the blighted, historic neighborhood into a revitalized and sustainable community.

The center of the restoration project is seven, tri-level residential buildings featuring insulating concrete forms (ICFs) from ARXX Corporation for the exterior walls and firewalls between units. The project team chose ICFs for their superior energy efficiency, durability, and safety. ICFs are also helping the East Parkside community meet its goal to adhere to the sustainability triple bottom line: economic, environmental, and social responsibility.

The January 2009 utility bills for one of the families in their new three-story home totaled a lean $50. Other green features of the homes include daylighting, a south-facing thermal wall, Energy Star® rated appliances and dual-flush toilets, leading to a 65 percent reduction in total utility costs for the homeowners.

The first phase of homes in the East Parkside restoration achieved a Silver certification under the LEED for Homes rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.  

In recognition of his efforts to promote sustainable development through the use of concrete- and cement-based products, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was a recipient of the 2009 PCA Sustainable Leadership Awards (see below).

Free Webcast Presents PCA High Performance Building Requirements

PCA will present a free webcast on its High Performance Building Requirements for Sustainability on October 22, 11-noon CDT. During "Sustainability in High Performance Buildings" Steve Szoke, PCA's director codes and standards, will discuss how PCA is leading the way towards new standards in sustainability that promise safer, more secure, and more energy-efficient buildings for future generations.

The standard goes beyond energy performance to address saving taxpayer dollars, safety, property protection, security, aesthetics and community issues.

A white paper on the topic will also be available for download.
More information and to register

Agenda Set for Fall Meeting

In addition to Annual and Board of Directors meetings, the PCA Fall Meeting, October 25-27, 2009, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C., will feature a slate of outside speakers and sessions on special topics.

The NESHAP Committee and the Climate Change Policy Committee will meet on Monday, October 26, at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. Tuesday’s Board meeting will include a Town Hall Meeting focused on climate change and NESHAP, and PCA chief economist Ed Sullivan will present his updated forecast.

Monday, October 26,  Jordan Barab will discuss occupational safety activities and goals of the Obama Administration in a breakfast presentation. Barab is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy for Occupational Safety and Health and the Acting Assistant Secretary at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

At the Chairman’s dinner on Monday evening, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) will be on hand to discuss pending issues affecting the cement industry.
Contact Jan Farnsworth

Philadelphia Sustainable Development Leadership Award Presented

Brian McCarthy, PCA president and CEO, presented Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter with a 2009 PCA Sustainable Leadership award on October 15 at the Delaware Valley Green Building Council’s BuildGreen 2009 conference in Philadelphia. (See Project of the Week above).

The presentation, which took place at the opening session breakfast sponsored by BASF, was featured on local NBC and FOX television news reports.

As a major tenet in its ongoing commitment to green building and excellence in leadership, the PCA Sustainable Leadership Awards recognize local leaders in six cities who have enacted policies or completed projects that promote sustainable development through the use of concrete- and cement-based products.
More at www.cement.org/newsroom

NCDC Conference Highlights Benefits of ICF Construction

Fifty public officials from more than 30 southwestern U.S. cities recently were participants in the National Community Development Association (NCDA) Southwest Region annual meeting in Lubbock, Texas.

The NCDA conference program highlighted the design and implementation of the insulating concrete form (ICF) program in Lubbock.  For more than a decade, Lubbock has utilized Federal grant funds to build 120 ICF homes for low income families.  The energy-efficient ICF homes, with monthly heating bills of $70-$80 per month, replace substandard housing with bills in the range of $400 per month.

Conference events included a panel discussion of ICF homes, a bus tour showing ICF homes under construction and ready for occupancy, and a trip to the Texas Tech University Wind Research Center for a live debris cannon demo of ICF wall disaster resistance. 

NCDA is an organization of local governments that administer federally supported community, economic development, and housing programs across the country.   For example, there is $2.7 billion in stimulus funds available from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program to local governments for implementing projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

PCA was a platinum sponsor of the event and the Cement Council of Texas was a silver sponsor. Both organizations have actively supported Lubbock’s efforts through the years.
Contact Sean VanDelist

LEED Reference Guide Now Available

The Ready Mixed Concrete Foundation has released its Third Edition of the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry LEED Reference Guide (LEED Guide).

This latest edition includes information on LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations and was completed with the assistance of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. 

Use of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system continues to grow in popularity. The LEED Guide demonstrates to builders, architects, engineers, commercial and residential owners, and public agencies how the use of concrete supports the goals of sustainable construction and LEED. In addition, it helps producers understand how their operations can be even more environmentally sensitive. 
Download the LEED Guide at www.rmc-foundation.org

Colorado Concrete Road Earns National Award

Pueblo County’s decision to use concrete instead of asphalt on an airport industrial park road not only saved money but also earned a major national award for the way the project turned out.

The county’s Public Works Department has been recognized for several achievement awards related to the extension and improvement of William White Boulevard.

The project was part of the much larger Defense Access Road program, funded mainly by the federal government to improve the roads through the industrial park and provide a second access point besides Paul Harvey Boulevard for the numerous trucks and commuters who will be working at the chemical demilitarization plant.

When it came time to extend William White to Colorado 47, high oil prices made concrete more economical than asphalt.

The work won the outstanding project award within its region and category by the Colorado/Wyoming Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association at its annual conference. It later was selected as the gold level national winner of the ACPA National 20th Annual Excellence in Concrete Pavement Award in the category of County Roads, making it the best concrete paved road in the nation.