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.
In 2015, XPrize announced a five-year, $20 million carbon removal competition. It sought to spur innovative technologies that reduce atmospheric carbon. In April, 2021, XPrize announced two winners. CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure would split the $15 million first place money. Semifinalists shared in the remaining $5 million.
Peter Diamandis founded the XPrize Foundation in 1994. One way to accelerate the pace of change is to reward innovation. XPrize does just that.
Both winners developed technology that sequesters CO2 in concrete. CarbonBuilt’s technology strengthens concrete while cutting its carbon footprint by half. CarbonCure’s idea is to carbonate the water used to clean cement trucks. The concrete-strengthening slurry is then added to mixes.
The Conewago plant in Hanover, PA, uses CarbonCure's technology. Installation took just two days, and there was no interruption to production. Conewago confirmed that seven and 28-day tests met strength standards.
Conewago already uses CarbonCure in 98.8 percent of its mixes. Conewago estimates it saved 343 tons of CO2 during its first nine months with CarbonCure. This is equal to the amount absorbed by 448 acres of forest each year. Furthermore, the company achieved 7.5 percent ROI. This easily exceeded the one-percent target.
The concentration of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere now stands at 420 ppm. This is 50 percent more than before the Industrial Revolution (IR). Humanity is on pace to double pre-IR CO2 levels by 2060.
Today, the United States emits five billion metric tons of CO2 every year. That’s the weight of the Washington Monument times 68,000.
An animated graph from NASA tracks global temperature anomalies since 1880. The atmosphere is now two degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-IR. A two-degree swing in either direction is significant. A mean annual drop of 1.1 degrees F was all it took to bring about the so-called Little Ice Age (1300-1850).
The Washington Post graphs how CO2 increases as air temperatures rise.. This drives more extreme weather events that increase demand for more resilient structures. Concrete is an ideal building product when resilience is a must.
On Earth Day 2021, XPrize announced it was partnering with Elon Musk for another carbon removal competition. Prizes will total $100 million. The top prize is $50 million. A winning entrant must show that its carbon removal/reduction technology can scale to one gigaton per year. That’s a lot of carbon. To put it in perspective, NASA says that 10,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers weigh one gigaton.
New technology capable of removing at least a gigaton per year would be significant. Global CO2 emission were 36.4 gigatons in 2019. The pandemic resulted in a temporary drop to 34 gigations in 2020. Natural carbon sinks absorb some CO2. It is distributed in the air (44%), the water (26%) and the land (30%). While absorption by trees and plants is an ideal form of carbon removal, it is not sufficient. CO2 that remains in the atmosphere warms it. CO2 absorption in the oceans makes them more acidic.
There are other ways to reward carbon removal and reduction efforts. Energy Star certification is one of them.
The ENERGY STAR Industrial Program has certified manufacturing plants since 2006. To qualify, they must be in the top 25 percent of energy performance in their respective industry. Thirteen cement plants are among 95 U.S. manufacturing facilities receiving EnergyStar certification in 2020. The EPA announced the winners in March, 2021.
Heliogen is one company with gigation per year carbon reduction aspirations. Time magazine recognized the company’s HelioHeat as one of its “Best Inventions of 2020.” Tens of thousands of computer-controlled mirrors direct concentrated sunlight toward a tower. To better visualize the concept, think of the installation as a giant magnifying glass. Heliogen employs artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize the reflective efficiency of mirrors.
Heliogen’s high-temperature solar technology replaces fossil fuels with sunlight. The company claims it is viable for a variety of industrial processes, including cement production. It can also store captured energy as heat to power nighttime operations. Company founder Bill Gross hopes that further advances will harness sunlight to produce hydrogen fuel.
In March 2021, Heliogen advanced its mission. Rio Tinto announced it would use the technology at a California mine. The mine is in Boron, CA, just outside of Edwards AFB. The facility currently relies on natural gas to generate steam. Rio Tinto says Heliogen’s technology will cut the mine’s carbon emissions by seven percent. Ultimately, the company believes it will lead to 24 percent reductions.
A variety of plans and proposals seek carbon-neutral concrete within three decades. While the pursuit of carbon neutral concrete is no longer a pipe dream, much work remains. For example, McKinsey cites potential sources of reduced emissions in the concrete industry. However, its projections rely on “new technologies” to achieve emissions goals.
Recently, the California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) published its carbon neutrality plan. It seeks net-zero concrete by 2045.
CNCA’s recently announced a roadmap calling for:
Reduced emissions in the manufacturing process
The use of fuel switching to reduce combustion emissions
Increased generation of distributed electricity
The Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA) highlights industry developments here at SpecifyConcrete.org. Should you have further questions, please contact us today.
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.