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.
Cement production has more than doubled since the turn of the century. It now stands at more than 4.1 billion tons. Future growth could increase production another billion tons per year by 2050.
The concrete industry generates approximately 6-7% of global carbon emissions. Energy-intensive clinker production is a key factor. According to the Portland Cement Association, combustion accounts for about 40% of a cement plant’s emissions. Calcination accounts for the other 60%.
The latter is a process emitting CO2 as limestone and clay are heated to approximately 950 degrees Centigrade. Overall, production of a pound of cement releases about 0.9 lb of carbon dioxide. The carbon emissions of a cubic yard of concrete is about the same as the CO2 emitted by a full tank of gas in a typical passenger vehicle.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) provides a complete picture of the environmental impact of concrete. This is particularly true of exposed concrete, because carbonation occurs throughout its service life. The process actually absorbs CO2 from the air. Carbonation continues as concrete gets crushed at the end of its life cycle.
Low-carbon cement plants are key to increasing the industry’s sustainability.
A key part of the quest for carbon neutrality involves the kilns at cement plants. There are two basic ways to address this. First, reduce the use of fossil fuels in the calcination process. Alternatives include bio-fuels and hydrogen. Green hydrogen acquired through the use of renewable energy sources is ideal.
Second, deploy effective carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies. Third, reduce cement consumption with innovative concrete mixes, like Portland-limestone cement (PLC). A plant upgrade planned for Sweden addresses the first two.
Heidelberg Cement's inaugural CCS project was at Norway’s Brevik cement plant. It was in fact the industry’s first full-scale installation for carbon capture. The system captures 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. This is half of the plant’s estimated emissions from 2024 onward.
Now, Heidelberg intends to make its Slite plant in Gotland, Sweden, carbon neutral. A new carbon capture system will have a capacity of 1.8 million tons per year. This is more than four times the capacity of the system at Brevik, and equal to the plant’s total emissions. Heidelberg hopes to have the system operational at the plant by 2030. The company plans to store captured CO2 several kilometers down in bedrock.
Approximately 75% of Swedish concrete uses cement produced at the Slite plant. This means the project will have a significant impact.
At cement plants, CCUS is but one approach to increased sustainability. Reduced reliance on fossil fuels is another. Other plants are embracing new technologies to reduce their carbon footprint. Here are some examples.
Lehigh Hansen and Fortera will collaborate to make cement production less carbon intensive. Fortera's proprietary recarbonation process simply taps into existing systems. It captures carbon dioxide exhaust and cycles it back to the kiln.
The resulting supplementary cementitious material (SCM) is blended with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It can also be used as a 100% cementitious binder in preformed products like bricks and blocks. The manufacturer expects the new system will reduce emissions by 60%. The project will demonstrate the quality, scalability and economic viability of Fortera’s technology.
CalPortland’s cement plant in Rillito, AZ, is the recipient of the EPA’s 2020 Energy Star certification. The plant has received the certification every year since 2012. A plant's energy-efficiency must be in the top 25% nationwide to qualify.
Recent energy-saving efforts include:
Replace two preheater tower cyclones
Upgrade a quarry belt conveyor with 11 km of new belting
replacing the kiln baghouse fan and dust collector bags
The human element is also an ongoing consideration. The plant gets an expanded energy team, and they attend more energy meetings. Efforts to communicate energy best practices to plant personnel will intensify. A 2.5-minute video from CalPortland provides perspective on the industry’s pursuit of sustainability.
The Denver Post reports on a carbon-capture facility planned for a LafargeHolcim plant in Florence, CO. The Department of Energy contributed a $1.5 million grant. The CCUS project will sequester CO2 underground. Svante will develop the CCUS system. Potential annual carbon capture is estimated at 725,000 tons.
Svante shares its name with Svante Arrhenius, a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry that saw the potential for fossil fuel combustion to generate a greenhouse effect. The Canadian company captures CO2 from industrial sources at half the cost of competing technologies. Its approach relies on solid adsorbents rather than traditional liquid solvents. Tailor-made nano-materials catch and release carbon dioxide in less than a minute. Capacity is impressive. A piece of the material the size of a sugar cube has the surface area of a football field.
In February, 2021, Cemex USA announced it received a grant from the Department of Energy to develop carbon capture processes at its Victorville, CA, plant. It will partner with RTI International, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Carbon Clean. In August, 2021, Cemex announced an $8 million investment in UK-based Carbon Clean. It will deploy next-generation non-aqueous solvents to enhance the efficiency of the system.
The Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA) reports on developments and innovations in the concrete industry. Our team welcomes your inquiries about concrete and sustainability. Please contact us with your questions.
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.