Concrete Provides Luxury Residence in Atlanta

Concrete construction’s flexibility was key to the completion last year of the Parc at Buckhead, a high-rise independent living community for 55 and older active seniors. The 296,000 square foot, 20-story concrete frame tower, is located in the heart of the Buckhead district, an upscale Atlanta community. The building has 193 apartments including landscaped gardens and the amenities and services of a five-star hotel.

Concrete framing allowed the structure to have superior acoustic performance compared to steel framing, and provided built-in fireproofing. The thin floor plate design (8"), only possible with concrete, allowed for an increase in tower floors and rentable residences without adding to the overall height and cladding cost of the tower.

When last-second additions and revisions were requested to maintain the expectations of the developer and the vision of the architect, the flexibility of concrete construction allowed the design team to meet these needs while staying on schedule and within budget. Read more about the Parc at Buckhead.

Tesoro Treasures Green Building for New Headquarters

Independent petroleum refiner and marketer Tesoro Corporation is cementing its commitment to environmentally sound operations with a new LEED-Silver corporate headquarters campus now under construction in San Antonio, Texas. More on Tesoro Headquarters.

CEMEX Goes Green for New U.S. Headquarters

The U.S. headquarters for CEMEX Inc., will be constructed as one of the few green buildings in Houston, further showcasing the company’s commitment to the environment through sustainable development practices. More on CEMEX's green building.

June PPI: Steel, Asphalt Continue to Rise

Steel prices from May to June grew for the eighth consecutive month, with a significant increase of 8.1%, according to the Producer Price Index (PPI). (Click on graph to enlarge.)

Asphalt prices also had a sharp increase of 6.7%. Lumber prices rose slightly, by 0.9% from May to June. Concrete prices increased minimally as well, with a 0.7% percent change.

During the last year, steel prices have increased 30.4%, asphalt prices have grown 17%, and concrete prices by 3.8%. Lumber prices have declined by 3.6%.

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Students Use Concrete for Innovative Design

Student architects from around the world shared their vision for environmentally friendly uses of cement-based products in PCA's third annual “Concrete Thinking for A Sustainable World” Competition.

More than 800 students from 33 architecture schools competed. Students either created an environmentally responsible recycling center, focused on reusing today’s materials to preserve tomorrow’s resources, or designed a building element that provides a sustainable solution to real-world environmental challenges.

Antonio Vigil of the University of New Mexico won first place in the recycling center category. The building element category, won by Anne Miller, from the University of Toronto, explored the minimal use of materials and resulted in a reusable fabric concrete form liner. More on the winners.

Sustainable Seminar

NRMCA will host the onsite seminar, "Concrete’s Role in Sustainable Development" on August 19, in Silver Spring, Md. This workshop will look specifically at integrating concrete solutions within the LEED and Green Globes guidelines. More on the seminar.

Spiker New Regional Engineering Manager for Eastern U.S.

PCA named Jerry M. Spiker, PE, AIA, LEED AP, as a regional engineering manager in the Building Structures department. Spiker will offer technical assistance to engineers, architects, contractors, owners, and universities on the benefits of concrete structure buildings. Spiker, located in Virginia Beach, Va., will provide support throughout the eastern portion of the United States. More on Jerry Spiker.

Find your regional engineering manager.

Tilt-Up Concrete Sees Surge in Popularity

Tilt-up concrete construction is one of the fastest-growing building technologies in North America, with at least 10,000 structures—enclosing more than 650 million square feet of space—being built every year. While tilt-up has been in existence for more than a century, the 1940s saw a surge of interest in the method, and today tilt-up builds more than 15% of industrial buildings in the U.S., according to the Tilt-Up Concrete Association. More information on tilt-up concrete.

The Tilt-Up Construction and Engineering Manual - 6th Edition

Published by the Tilt-up Concrete Association, this manual is the leading resource of information on tilt-up design and construction as it is practiced today. This 6th edition has been revised to reflect feedback from wide variety of experts throughout the industry, and also includes a considerable amount of new materials. It grew from the previous edition’s 260 pages to a very significant 360-page volume that reflects the engineering and construction practices that developed as the industry grew and advanced. The manual is an important reference for those just getting started as well as those with years of experience. It includes a CD supplement of guide photos, guide details and guideline specifications. More information and purchase.

DVD Provides Easy Way to Earn PDHs

Refresh your knowledge on the analysis and design of reinforced concrete and earn 13 Professional Development Hours without leaving your desk.

Reinforced Concrete Design - Distance Learning Modules, a new DVD developed by PCA, contains five narrated presentations covering analysis and design of reinforced concrete. Each module ends with a Web-based quiz covering the topics discussed. Upon successful completion of each quiz you receive a Portland Cement Association Certificate of Completion and will be awarded 3.0 Professional Development Hours. Topics covered include: reinforced concrete fundamentals; beams and one-way slabs; two-way slabs; columns; walls; foundations. More information and to purchase.

ACI 318-08 Code Seminars Roll On

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) and PCA are jointly sponsoring a one-day seminar on the ACI 318-08 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete. The seminar will be held in 56 cities across the US. The goal is to assist engineers, architects, specifiers, building officials, and other code users in understanding the background of the latest code changes. The ACI Building Code will be adopted by reference in the fourth edition of the International Building Code (IBC 2009) and in the 2009 edition of National Fire Protection Association's Building Construction and Safety Code, NFPA 5000.

Seminar details and schedule.

Order a copy of ACI 318-08

Modeling Construction Joints in StructurePoint’s pcaMats Program

In mat foundations and slabs on grade, construction joints are typically required to transfer vertical shear force between adjacent concrete placements. Transfer of moments across the joint may or may not be required. There are two possible ways to model a construction joint in pcaMats to analyze and design a concrete foundation where only shear is transferred and moment is not. Read more.

pcaMats program has recently been upgraded to version 6.51 which supports ACI 318-05 and CSA A23.3-04 concrete design standards. More information about pcaMats v6.51 including revised pricing and to download fully functional evaluation version of the program.

More about StructurePoint’s suite of reinforced concrete analysis and design software.

• SEAOC 2008 Convention
September 23–27, Big Island, Hawaii

• Architecture Engineering Conference
September 25–27, Denver, Colo.

• Structural Engineers Building Conference & Expo
October 2–3, Atlanta, Ga.

• PCI’s 54th Annual Convention & Exhibition
October 4–7, Orlando, Fla.

• ACI Fall Convention
November 2–6, Saint Louis, Mo.

• Design-Build Conference and Expo
November 3–5, Las Vegas, Nev.

• GreenBuild International Conference and Expo
November 19–21, Boston, Mass.