Correctional Facility Relies on Precast Concrete Modules

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use precast concrete modular construction for a new medium- and maximum-security correctional facility.

Oldcastle Precast Modular is currently working with JE Dunn Construction, Kansas City, Mo., to provide 248 precast concrete cells at the Fort Leavenworth Regional Correctional Facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., as part of the base realignment and closure program.

The new $150 million 2-story correctional facility will consist of 483 beds, including a warehouse, engineering, and maintenance building as well as a covered vehicle storage area. A new access road will lead to the prison on its 40-acre site.

The medium-security general housing unit will consist of 200 cells, and the maximum-security single housing units will consist of 48 cells.

Oldcastle Precast Modular is supplying and installing the furniture including combination units. Production for the 248 cells began in late October and will finish in February 2009. Erection will begin in February and be completed in March.

The architect of record is HSMM/AECOM of Virginia.
More at www.opmg.com

Communications Program Targets
'New Realities' of Paving

Last week, PCA launched a communications program to build awareness for new opportunities in concrete paving with a media training and message development session in Chicago.

Program elements include media training for RPGs and PCA staff, media outreach, and live events in the first quarter of next year that will lay a foundation for national and regional campaigns.

The media training concluded with hometown radio spots recorded by RPG execs in attendance, which will be distributed to area stations this week. A companion press release will also be distributed to newspapers and area business press.

High asphalt costs and low availability, environmental concerns, the economic downturn, and growing demands on our infrastructure present new opportunities for concrete paving. Asphalt paving costs have increased 97% during the last five years and 30% in the last 18 months. Regional asphalt shortages reflect changes in the global economy and oil markets  as well as new refining techniques that significantly affect supply.

Coupled with these factors is the need to invest in transportation infrastructure to keep pace with population growth and reduce traffic congestion that wastes fuel and increases transportation costs and carbon dioxide emissions. And overlaying all these considerations are pressures to meet infrastructure needs in a sustainable and environmentally sound manner.

The program is based on a recent PCA economic research report of the same name, Paving: The New Realities. In addition to national and regional media outreach, the communications program also includes live events and collateral communications materials such as case histories, Webcasts, and podcasts.
More at www.cement.org/newsroom

NCMA Announces Design Awards of Excellence

The National Concrete Masonry Association and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute announced winners of the 2008 Design Awards of Excellence. Winners were selected in five categories from a field of 100 entries:

Award of Excellence, Commercial: Temple Beth Shalom, Arnold, Md.

Award of Honor, Commercial: East Anaheim Gymnasium, Anaheim, Calif.

Award of Merit, Commercial: Ocotillo Professional Building, Chandler, Ariz.

Award of Excellence, Residential: Green Mountain Home, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Award of Honor, Residential: Rocky Slope Residence, Phoenix, Ariz.

Award of Merit, Residential: Windansea Beach Homes, La Jolla, Calif.

Award of Excellence, Hardscapes-Pavers: TCU Brown-Lupton University Union, Fort Worth, Texas

Award of Merit, Hardscapes-SRWs: Briarcliff – Hilltop Office Building, Kansas City, Mo.

Award of Excellence for Sustainability: Arnold & Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego, Calif.

The winners will be honored at the 2009 NCMA/ICPI awards banquet in Indianapolis, Ind., on February 26, 2009, as part of the annual convention and ICON Expo.
Contact Harry Junk at NCMA

TX Active Cement Utilized in Green Affordable
Chicago Housing Complex

Applying innovative products to green building does not necessarily translate into higher costs. The recently completed 500 Hyacinth Place project of 14 townhomes is the result of a commitment to affordable green housing made by the City of Chicago. The complex features geothermal heating and cooling, wind turbine energy generation, and renewable flooring.

One of the most innovative of the project's environmental assets is the use in its courtyards of paving stones, which clean themselves and reduce air pollution through photocatalytic interaction with sunlight. The stones, manufactured by Unilock, are formulated with TX Active, a self-cleaning, pollution-reducing photocatalytic cement produced by Essroc Italcementi Group.  When exposed to sunlight, TX Active destroys several atmospheric pollutants common to urban areas; the same pollutants which can dull and streak conventional concrete surfaces over time.

While the photocatalytic properties of the pavers clean the air on a clear day, on a rainy day their permeable solution allows rainwater to flow through their surface.

Call for Entries: NAHB National
Green Building Awards

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced it was accepting applications for the 2009 NAHB National Green Building Awards.

The prestigious annual awards honor homebuilders, remodelers, home builders' associations, and other organizations for advancing green building through innovative design and construction techniques, excellent educational programs, and successful advocacy efforts.

NAHB will present the awards at a dinner during its National Green Building Conference, May 8-10, 2009, in Dallas.

The awards are part of the NAHB National Green Building Program, NAHBGreen, which includes education, advocacy, marketing and certification services for green homes.  Since NAHBGreen debuted in February 2008, homes have been certified in 20 states.

Building and remodeling projects must have been started after June 2007 and substantially completed by December 2008 to be considered for an award.  The entry deadline is Jan. 31, 2008.
More at www.nahb.org

Rabbat Honored by ACI

PCA's Basile Rabbat was elected an Honorary Member of the American Concrete Institute at its Fall Board of Directors meeting.

Rabbat was also selected to receive the ACI Foundation-Concrete Research Council Arthur J. Boase Award for his "outstanding contributions to the activities of the ACI 318 Building Code, disseminating information on the latest building code provisions, and for harmonizing structural concrete codes and standards."