Concrete a Solid Choice for Rock Hill

Affordable housing should be affordable to own as well as to build. That’s why communities are turning to concrete homebuilding systems for energy savings and low maintenance.

A case in point is the City of Rock Hill, S.C. In late April 2008, the community began construction on four affordable Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) homes.  Following in the footsteps of Lubbock, Texas, which has built 100 ICF homes in five years, the Affordable Housing Program of Rock Hill is hoping to continue to build energy-efficient housing using concrete building systems. 

As the first two homes near completion, Rock Hill’s residents are warming up to the idea of affordable concrete housing. Jason Weil of Housing and Neighborhood Services said, "Most [in the community] were apprehensive at first.  There was a perception at the beginning that they would look like igloos when we were done.  Once the siding went up, though, our biggest critic asked how she could get one."

The 1400-square-foot, $100,000 homes are a part of the Rock Hill Affordable Housing Program.  The town is offering down payment and closing cost assistance of $14,999, as well as several grants to help make the homes more affordable.  Besides the reasonable purchase price, residents of the new homes will enjoy lower heating and cooling bills, thanks to the superior energy efficiency the concrete building system offers.  Most ICF homes in the Carolinas are large custom-built homes; this is one of the first endeavors to offer affordable, energy-efficient, sustainable housing through a civic program in the Carolinas.

Concrete Bridges Have Lower Rate of
Structural Deficiency

According to a new PCA report, for almost each road or highway system, reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges have a significantly lower rate of structural deficiency than steel or timber bridges.

The PCA report, Material Usage and Condition of Existing Bridges in the U.S., also reviewed market share data for the four major bridge construction materials used in the United States--reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, structural steel, and timber. The combined market share for reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges in the United States is close to 70% of bridges built since 1980, based on the number of bridges.  This is a significant increase from the period 1950-1959 where the market share was approximately 44% based on the number of bridges.

Material Usage and Condition of Existing Bridges in the U.S. provides an analysis of data extracted from the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) as of December 2006; the NBI is maintained by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
Contact Sue Lane
Download the full report at the PCA Bookstore

PCA Awarded Government Contract

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) awarded PCA a contract worth $105,335.00 for educational services.

According to the contract terms, the “Concrete Technology and Codes” training course will give NRC staff technical information and hands-on experience in the area of concrete technology, improving the NRC inspector’s ability to conduct in-depth inspections and design reviews of NRC-licensed facilities to determine whether or not applicable codes and standards are met.

The contract is renewable for an additional three years.
Contact Michelle Wilson

Roanoke Cement Company Honored for Commitment to Sustainability

Roanoke Cement Company, a subsidiary of Titan America LLC, received the American Institute of Architects’ Blue Ridge Chapter Architectural Medal for recent environmental achievements. The medal is given to a non-architect – individual, project, or organization – that has significantly improved the design/built environment of the AIA Blue Ridge Region.

The AIA Blue Ridge cited Roanoke Cement’s investment of $50 million in capital upgrades over the last five years to further modernize the plant, eliminate inefficiencies and improve environmental performance as well as the firm's compact fluorescent lighting campaign and carbon mapping initiatives through the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition.

The award was presented to Roanoke Cement Company on September 18, 2008 at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Va.

ASTM Forms New Committee on Sustainability

At its recent meeting in Miami, Fla.,  ASTM International (ASTM) formed a new committee to address the development of standards relating to sustainable development practices.  Designated ASTM E60 Committee on Sustainability, the committee’s scope was defined as the acquisition, promotion, and dissemination of knowledge; stimulation of research; and the development of standards related to sustainability and sustainable development.

The initial subcommittees will be on Buildings and Construction, Hospitality, and General Sustainability Standards.  The current ASTM E06 Subcommittee on Sustainability will become the Subcommittee on Buildings and Construction. 
Contact Steve Szoke

ICFA Forms its Future in Portland

The Insulating Concrete Form Association (ICFA), held its annual Expo and Meeting in Portland, Oregon last week.  More than 350 attendees had an opportunity to visit with ICF manufacturers and product vendors and attend educational sessions. 

The organization also presented its 2008 ICFA Excellence Awards, Contractor of the Year Award and the “Richie Scott” award for contribution to the ICF industry. 

In addition to participating in Board and Committee meetings, PCA residential staff contributed with presentations to the group.  Donn Thompson provided an update on PCA’s new ANSI wall standard, and was a co-presenter for a session on rightsizing HVAC systems.  Jim Niehoff gave a summary of the results of the 2007 PCA Home Builder Survey, and Mike Collignon presented an overview of PCA’s residential and sustainability Web sites and other tools to assist ICF professionals. 
For more information on the ICFA, visit www.forms.org

Results Split on Need to Beef up High Rise Buildings

A NIST report on the collapse of 7 World Trade Center recommended requiring stricter design measures to prevent collapse, even in "worst-case" fires. Reaction by developers and engineers have been mixed. Do you agree with the recommendations?

> Yes, we need to build in a greater margin of safety: 51.41%
> No, the cost is prohibitive and existing codes are adequate: 48.59%

Notable comments
“Margins of safety imply some acceptance of risk vs. benefit; the extra benefit of a higher safety margin will remain unused if the event for which it applies does not occur, and the extra cost will remain. So, the question is how much risk are we willing to accept and afford?”

“Saving lives should not be considered based on cost.”

“I believe that there are some ways to improve performance that do not have a large cost impact. However, a worst-case fire is a subjective criterion and may prove to be an unobtainable design standard for an economical building.”

“While there are certainly reasonable and practical lessons for the construction industry to learn from those horrible murders, let's not over-react. There is just no way to absolutely prevent desperate and destructive maniacs who are willing to kill themselves from destroying our structures. If we over-react, we make it prohibitive to build. Thus we allow them the power to further destroy our economy.”

“We need to work on fire-prevention and fire-control,  then look into the structural design aspect. We don't want to live or work in boxes or cages.”
Take the current poll.