Webinar Archives

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Anyone who has watched a building under construction can appreciate its complexity and sophistication. Occasionally, inspection and testing requirements occur that the local code official may not be qualified or experienced to address, so third-party assistance is needed. The building codes address this need through a specific requirement for structural tests and “special” inspections. A special inspection can be required for materials, installation, fabrication, erection or placement of components and connections where special expertise is needed.  This presentation will cover the requirement of special inspections as well as some examples of when construction testing and inspections did not go as planned. 

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The tilt-up industry remains characterized as a budding or growing delivery method for new construction.  This dominant method of design and construction has a rich history of more than a century of influence and nearly fifty years of dramatic growth and unmatched solutions.  This presentation will detail the progress made and highlight the features of the industry that evidence why it is an ideal platform for specialists in design and construction, returning craftsmanship to the mindset of today’s contractor. The presenter will be James R. Baty II, F.ACI, F.TCA (Tilt Up Concrete Association).

No credits will be awarded for viewing recordings of the webinar. 

The webinar is being sponsored by the Iowa Ready Mixed Concrete Association, the Minnesota Concrete Council, the North Dakota Concrete Council, the South Dakota Ready Mix Association, and the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association. 

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With a growing interest in sustainability, the construction industry is looking for solutions to help reduce its carbon footprint. The Portland Cement Association’s newly released Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality lays out the cement and concrete industry’s commitment to a lower carbon future. With its proven performance, portland-limestone cement, or PLC, is ready to play a key role, yet many designers and specifiers don’t know about it. This program will explain what PLCs are, how to use them, and their effects on fresh and hardened concrete properties. Several examples of PLC projects in the U.S. over the past decade will show how others have used it successfully.

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Concrete is used in nearly every structure we build today, including buildings, bridges, homes and infrastructure. With greater emphasis placed on sustainability, design professionals are faced with the challenge of meeting traditional design criteria with evolving criteria that support green building and efforts to reduce impact on climate change. Performance-based specifications for concrete represent an important synergy with sustainability initiatives because they provide the opportunity to optimize mixtures for performance that can also reduce environmental impacts. Prescriptive specifications often adversely impact the environmental footprint of concrete structures. This presentation outlines how concrete performance can be improved while lowering environmental footprint by implementing performance-based specifications.

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Part of the Sustainable Structures Webinar Series: Look around and you’ll see many five to seven story projects being built today with a one- or two-story concrete pedestal, supporting up to five floors of steel or wood frame. These “pedestal” projects are assumed to be the cheapest way to build while longer term ownership implications of these designs are not well understood. This one-hour presentation dispels the myths that are driving the popularity of pedestal construction and demonstrates the value concrete provides.

The developer/owner’s perspective on building multi-family housing projects with Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) will be presented, and will include design, construction, and energy-efficiency implications, as well as tenant satisfaction. The presenter will overview his use of ICF’s and concrete for the exterior wall system at Kendal Lofts, a 42-unit project in Waukesha, Wisconsin. In addition, the presenter will also discuss his latest all-concrete residential projects in Wisconsin and Florida.

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This webinar will explore the use of Insulated Concrete Forms as a viable and enduring building system.  The webinar will explain the many benefits, economies, and attributes of Insulated Concrete Forms.  The presenter will share lessons he has learned, details for implementation, things to avoid, and things to consider.  The presenter will describe how Insulated Concrete Forms can be implemented into the design of net-zero energy buildings.  Finally, a case study will help illustrate the benefits and properties of a thermal mass/thermal reservoir. 

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Concrete is a durable, resilient material that can provide many benefits to efficient, sustainable structures in the long term. While concrete does have an upfront CO2 impact, the industry is working to reduce GHG emissions and increase the efficiency of its products. This presentation will discuss technical innovations to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete and examine current process improvements that are pushing the industry forward to a more sustainable future.

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As physical sites grow and expand, means and methods for property development become much more complex. With abbreviated construction schedules and significant liquidated damages, the ability to gain some control of the uncontrollable becomes essential. The earlier this process is recognized and integrated into the project, the better the chance for success. This presentation will address several ways to work with challenging construction sites using cement and concrete; delivering large projects to the owner on time, economically and sustainably.

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Mass concrete (or thermally controlled concrete) typically requires implementing thermal control measures to reduce maximum temperature and mitigate temperature difference. Specified temperature limits and thermal control requirements can affect mix design proportions, materials selection, reinforcement details, construction operations and compliance to specifications for the work. Many specifications still limit concrete temperatures to overly conservative default values without recognizing concrete properties and performance that allow alternative temperature limits more suitable for the specified work while maintaining quality and improving constructability. This issue frequently results in challenging scenarios that create design difficulties and unnecessary constructability problems for mass concrete. This presentation focuses on the implementation of today’s knowledge of mass concrete and best practices to overcome mass concrete challenges and facilitate solutions in projects. A special emphasis will be given to the technical updates provided for mass concrete requirements and guidance progressing in North America industry standards.

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Using recent data and ongoing surveys by the Minneapolis Fed, Ron Wirtz (Regionial Outreach Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) will discuss the speed and breadth of recovery in the construction sector and broader Minnesota economy, and role of labor force on economic growth going forward. Using an interactive survey, Ron will also gauge sentiment among event attendees regarding recent business activity, hiring demand, labor and wage trends, and the short-term economic outlook.