The leading voice for the crushed stone, ready mixed concrete, sand and gravel, and cement industries' community.
PELA is a 10-month hybrid program with online and in-person educational sessions and networking opportunities.
Careers in the Aggregates, Concrete & Cement Industries
The Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA) is the industry’s unified voice, representing more than 200 member companies across the state.
Creating a unified and strong voice for our industry.
PACA monitors and analyzes local, state and federal regulations and advocates for a balanced approach by the regulators.
PACA builds a bridge between our members and our partners at PennDOT, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission along with Pennsylvania’s construction industry to further the use of our materials to the benefit of the commonwealth.
One of the most effective tools in government relations for an industry is a robust advocacy/grassroots strategy.
In the last legislative session, we contributed over $275,000 to our political champions.
November 2025 at Hotel Hershey in Hershey, PA (PACA members only event).
PACA offers comprehensive concrete certification programs for ACI, NRMCA, and PennDOT in the central Pennsylvania area.
Membership has its privileges - most of PACA's events are open to PACA members only.
PACA conducts numerous education and training events during the year.
Choose concrete for your next parking lot project.
Streets built with concrete are built to last, consider concrete for your next project.
Concrete's strong, resilient and the choice for your next building or bridge.
PACA works with the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) to convert your parking lot or building project to concrete without hurting your bottom line.
PACA drives a member-approved strategic plan to increase market share and engages specifiers and owners on the value of concrete in their projects.
This program provides free continuing education to the design and specifying communities. There are currently four courses available, ranging from 30 minutes to 60 minutes focused on the cement, aggregates and concrete industries. You'll receive a certificate of completion once you pass a quiz. The bookmarking feature allows you to leave the course and resume where you left off when you return.
Early on, insulated concrete forms (ICFs) found acceptance among commercial architects and builders. For example, Kentucky’s Richardsville Elementary School became the nation’s first net-zero school in 2010. The project demonstrated how widespread use of ICFs met critical criteria in modern construction. Storm-resistant ICF construction was vital in a region subject to tornadoes.
They reduced sound transmission between the gym, cafeteria, media center and the classrooms. ICFs also ensured a tight building envelope, essential to the efficient use of the projects solar panels and geothermal system.
Today, the special qualities of ICFs make them a great resource in residential applications as well. A report by Mordor Intelligence highlights the strength of the residential ICF market. The organization’s analysts project a compound annual growth rate of more than 13 percent through 2024. The report suggests that ICFs are most often used for residential basements/foundations. Although ICFs are more common in multi-family and upscale housing, they are also making inroads into general single-family construction.
ICFs deliver the strength, durability, energy-efficiency and sound attenuation coveted by today’s residential builders. Updated building codes drive the use of energy-efficient ICF construction. In many instances, residential codes also demand continuous below-grade insulation. This is something ICFs are well-positioned to deliver. They stop thermal bridging without adding additional steps to the construction process.
ICFs are an increasingly competitive option in a variety of other residential applications as well. They are increasingly a cost-competitive option for interior walls, floors, roofs, safe rooms and pools.
Residential builders increasingly extend ICF advantages to interior walls. They add structural integrity while reducing sound transmission. They are also pest and mold-resistant. True, gypsum board is incompatible with interior ICF wall construction. However, builders have other code-compliant options available. Earth clay plaster and PlasterMax are two examples.
ICFs are often used in combination with in-floor radiant heating systems. ICF garage floors are an ideal option when there is living space below. Sometimes, regular deep earth excavation for a foundation is not possible. ICF-based frost-protected shallow foundations (FPSFs) are a solution. High water tables and the use of landfill sites are two examples. Permeable fill prevents the heaving of FPSFs. Studies suggest that FPSFs cost 15-17 percent less than regular foundations.
It's common knowledge that ICFs are good for foundations and exterior walls. However, they are also used in the construction of energy-saving sloped roofs that resist the state’s worst weather threats. According to BuildBlock, ICF roof panels are at least six inches thick. They can span up to 40 feet. They deliver the strength and energy-efficiency required under earth-covered green roofs as well.
ICFs are an excellent option for safe rooms. The value of a residential safe room was highlighted on Easter Sunday. Andrew Phillips is a volunteer firefighter who purchased his home in part because of its concrete safe room. As severe weather bore down on Moss, MS, he tracked it online and with the aid of his fire radio. As he realized a tornado was about to strike, he and his family made it into the safe room with only 20 seconds to spare.
The next day, nationwide news services published the stark image of the safe room. It still stood tall. Otherwise, the home's concrete foundation was stripped bare. Phillips, his wife, their two young children were all safe.
When summer arrives, Pennsylvania homeowners look forward to enjoying their pools. ICF radius blocks are perfect for pool construction. Quad-Lock profiles a homebuilder who added an ICF pool to his ground-to-roof ICF home design. As one ICF manufacturer puts it, “Build faster, extend your pool season with an insulated pool without sacrificing design options.”
Here are a few examples of innovative residential ICF construction in Pennsylvania and beyond.
Windom Hill Place is a luxury townhome development on Pittsburgh’s south side. It emerges from a hillside high above the Monongahela River. Thickly insulated walls deliver energy savings of up to 60 percent. At the same time, the structural integrity of the ICFs is ideal for the hillside construction.
Wisconsin’s Eco Village is home to an ICF safe room built to FEMA 32 standards. The St. Croix Valley Habitat for Humanity project is LEED Platinum-certified, with HERS scores ranging from 17 to minus five.
Gregg Yanke, a builder in North Vancouver, BC, constructed a pool with ICFs as he built a 3,000 sq-ft ICF home. Yanke spoke of the ease of ICF construction. “I had a two-man crew who had never worked with ICF before, build my forms faster than any wood-framed house could be done,” he observed.
ICFs offer architects and builders an increasing array of design and construction options. Builders often see lower construction insurance costs as well. Homeowners may enjoy reduced insurance premiums when they invest in ICF homes.
ICF construction also addresses periodic shortages of skilled tradespeople. Traditional concrete foundations demand placement and removal of the forms. Traditional stud walls atop those foundations require framing crews. With traditional construction, vapor barriers and insulation add further to labor costs. By contrast, relatively fewer workers maneuver lightweight ICF forms into place in less time.
The Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA) serves industry participants across the state. SpecifyConcrete.org keeps the industry up-to-date about emerging trends in ready-mixed concrete.
For guidance in locating additional ICF resources, please contact us.
February 22, 2024
Proficient carbon calculations are increasingly important as “Buy Clean” legislation proliferates. New York and Colorado are among the states that now require carbon calcs for public projects. An estimated 40% of emissions are from the built environment. According to one estimate, the planet’s total building floor area will double by 2060. This makes the concrete industry a key player in the quest for net-zero emissions products and projects.
February 15, 2024
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) notes that cement production is “so carbon intensive that even though cement makes up less than 15% of concrete by weight, it accounts for 90% of concrete’s carbon footprint.” The use of fossil fuels to fire cement kilns is a key source of these carbon emissions.
February 08, 2024
In the quest for reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, everyone has a role to play. In the concrete industry, this includes everyone from manufacturers to contractors, and from trade associations to governments. Here is a review of some of the major initiatives impacting concrete’s sustainability.
February 01, 2024
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) requires high-temperature calcination of limestone. It is possible to use various emissions-reducing pozzolans in concrete. Fly ash comes from coal-fired power plants. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) comes from steel mills. Another SCM is metakaolin derived from kaolin.
The program is delivered in one (1) module and it should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. You will receive a certificate of completion once you pass the quiz. The bookmarking feature will allow you to leave the course and resume where you left off when you return.