Energy Efficiency Ranks High on Home’s Construction Priorities

Home of the Innocents cares for kids in crisis in the Louisville, Ky., region.  It provides children of abuse, abandonment, and neglect, those who are medically fragile, and children with autism with the skills to improve their lives and the opportunities to “just be kids.” While developing expansion plans for five new buildings on their East Market Street campus, the Home’s Board of Directors targeted building systems that would offer superior energy efficiency and disaster-resistance, thus providing a favorable monthly operating cost.

After careful research, the Board chose insulating concrete forms (ICFs) for above-grade walls in four of the buildings and for a basement in the fifth. The five new buildings will double the Home’s space and include an aquatics therapy center, a shelter cottage for children and adolescents, a comprehensive assessment center, and an expansion of a pediatric convalescent center.

In addition to ICF construction, the Home is also employing the use of geothermal technology as a way to achieve energy efficiency. Two 125-feet deep wells will supply water at 52 degrees Fahrenheit for use by the Home’s heating and cooling systems.  It is anticipated that geothermal energy, coupled with insulating concrete forms construction, will significantly reduce the cost of heating and cooling the Home’s facilities.

Construction began in early 2009 with completion expected in the spring of 2010. Dixie ICF, LLC, of Louisville will be the ICF distributor and contractor of materials from Amvic Building Systems.

"Concrete Thinking" Seminars Illustrate Industry's Sustainable Initiatives

During the past 6 months, more than 240 cement and concrete industry personnel attended “Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World” at five regional venues.  This training program educated sales, marketing and communication staff about the issues government officials, building owners, architects, and engineers are facing, the sustainable initiatives our industry has implemented, and perspectives for positioning and promoting concrete to this audience.

Additional classes are coming to the following locations:
> September 17—Seattle, Washington
> September 22— Minneapolis, Minnesota
> October 13—Chicago, Illinois
> November 17— Phoenix, Arizona
To register, visit www.cement.org/learn
Contact David Shepherd

RCC to be Presented at "Paving Innovations" Conference

Roads & Bridges magazine presents “Paving Innovations” in Chicago on September 22-23, 2009 as part of its series of educational conferences on major topics affecting our nation’s infrastructure.

The two-day session will focus on the several facets of the paving industry, including recycling/reclaiming; base stabilization; warm-mix asphalt; concrete paving; accelerated road construction; road maintenance; concrete overlays; and the formal announcement of Roads & Bridges Top 10 Roads for 2009.

Wayne Adaska, PCA’s director of pavements, will present a session on roller-compacted concrete. 

This is an excellent opportunity for contractors involved with road, highway and airport paving, engineers and consulting engineers, and government officials to gain insight into several keys areas of construction and maintenance topics related to the continual reconstruction and expansion of our nation’s road infrastructure. Professional Development Hours (PDHs) will be available.
Register for the conference at www.roadsbridgeslive.com

ACPA Webinar Provides Overview of Mix Design Software

"Understanding COMPASS Mix Design Software" is the topic of ACPA's next webinar, as the popular education series continues on Thursday, August 20. The program, which has been on summer hiatus during the peak paving season, returns with this course, which is a must for engineers, researchers, consultants, and contractors who are either directly involved with developing mix designs or those who simply want a better understanding of them.

Instructor Sabrina Garber, MSE, of The Transtec Group, Austin, Texas, will make this 60-minute presentation, which covers the software, a range of how-to tips and techniques, and an overview of mix designs for concrete pavements.

The Federal Highway Administration developed COMPASS, the Concrete Mixture Performance Analysis System. The software guides the user through the mix design process and helps optimize mix alternatives based on job-specific requirements. It is easy to use and geared toward all levels of expertise within the concrete paving community.

COMPASS consists of four independent modules. Each module can be used as a stand-alone tool and at random without having to work through previous modules, or the modules can be used in order as an optimization tool.

The webinar will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CDT).
To register online, visit the ACPA Web site at www.acpa.org
For information about the ACPA webinars, contact Michael E. Ayers, Ph.D.

Corps Infrastructure Systems Conference Received Warm Cleveland Welcome

PCA promoted the advantages of concrete pavements and buildings to the 1600 attendees of the biennial U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Infrastructure Systems Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, July 20-23.

A pervious concrete display helped draw visitors into the booth, where they were able to pick up handouts on a variety of concrete topics, including full depth reclamation with cement, sustainability, progressive collapse resistance, general material durability, and waste stabilization topics.

Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) garnered much of the attention, both for pavements and water resource applications. Wayne Adaska, director of pavements, gave an overview of RCC pavements to 40 people during a session dedicated to RCC.

In addition, researchers from the USAF gave a presentation on PCA’s blast research project on commercially available concrete sandwich panel wall systems.

This biennial conference was jointly sponsored by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Society of  American Military Engineers.
Contact Wayne Adaska or John Sullivan

Deadline for Bridge Abstracts Extended

The deadline for abstracts for the 2010 Concrete Bridge Conference has been extended until Friday, August 14.

The theme of the 2010 conference, to be held February 24-26 in Phoenix, is “Achieving Smart, Safe, and Sustainable Bridges.”  It is the premiere national venue for the exchange of ideas and information on all aspects of concrete bridge design and construction.  Hundreds of bridge engineers, including department of transportation and highway agency officials, attend it.

The conference is sponsored by the National Concrete Bridge Council (NCBC), a coalition of allied industry associations including PCA, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.
Submit abstracts at www.nationalconcretebridge.org
Contact Sue Lane