Pci Convention Spotlights Industry’s Green Future

Architect and designer William McDonough, FAIA, will address The Greening of the Architectural Profession and its Implications for Precast Concrete in

Architect and designer William McDonough, FAIA, will address The Greening of the Architectural Profession and its Implications for Precast Concrete in a keynote address for Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute‘s Annual Convention & National Bridge Conference, running concurrently Oct. 23-25 at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. The programs at both events will present design examples and recent innovations that are helping to make precast concrete more popular with building and bridge designers, says PCI President James Toscas. Precast concrete already is used in more than half of the bridges built in America. And, architects are finding more ways to use architectural precast, structural components and all-precast concrete designs to create environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions.

In the PCI convention program, education sessions will span seismic-design research issues; precast concrete diaphragms; trends in the school market; innovations in precast concrete poles; and, overviews of the upcoming Designing With Precast concrete binder for architects and the new Architectural Precast Concrete Manual to be released later this year. The National Bridge Conference will feature programs on girders made of self-consolidating concrete mixes; rapid bridge-replacement projects around the country; materials innovations; and, a variety of technical research reports.

The convention is preceded by three days of committee meetings for PCI members that begin on October 20th, overseen by 2006 PCI Chairman Robert McCormack (Spancrete Industries). Winning projects in PCI’s 2006 Design Award competition will be honored at an Oct. 24 gala banquet celebrating projects in categories of innovation, sustainability, all-precast systems, buildings and bridges. A special seminar the following day will present details of the recently introduced 6th edition of the PCI Design Handbook. Û www.pci.org; 312/786-0300