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.
Built into a hillside, ICF construction met the challenge of this project site.
Frank Bryan Inc.
Sota Construction Services
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh developer and builder, Ernie Sota, has been constructing environmentally friendly buildings for three decades. He’s been LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council for five years and serves on the board of Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance. A few years ago, his company, Sota Construction Services, built the Carson Retirement Residence/Sarah Street Apartments with insulated concrete forms (ICFS), choosing them for their insulation value and sound blocking qualities—both green attributes.
So when Sota was ready to build Windom Hill Place, luxury townhomes on Pittsburgh’s South Side, he decided to use ICFs once again. “I was interested in ICFs for several reasons,” says Sota. “I thought they provided a good marriage of structural response to the hillside conditions and thermal mass. They also provide a high level of quality for the building,” he says.
I was interested in ICFs for several reasons. I thought they provided a good marriage of structural response to the hillside conditions and thermal mass. They also provide a high level of quality for the building.~ Ernie Sota, Owner, Sota Construction Services
~ Ernie Sota, Owner, Sota Construction Services
Tough Terrain
Perched on Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes, above the Monongahela River, Windom Hill Place was designed by architect John Martine of Strada LLC to evoke the hillside homes of European cities like Budapest and Prague. The first phase of the project, completed in November 2006, consisted of one structure with four units. Sota plans to build another five-unit building on the site once those first units are sold.
Each 2,800-sq. ft. unit includes a ground level garage, a living room and kitchen on the first floor, a second floor level with two bedrooms and an expanded master suite on the top. The interior of each unit is clear span, so the people who buy the homes will have the flexibility to configure the units to meet their specific needs.The townhomes incorporate many green features including cork and bamboo floors, EnergyStar appliances and HVAC system, low VOC paints and plenty of natural lighting. The floor-to-ceiling windows provide spectacular views of the city below. A balcony on the fourth floor, made from structural concrete, can support a hot tub, a small garden or even trees if the homeowners decide that they want to add some green features to that living space.
The terrain made construction difficult and was one reason why the builder decided to use ICFs.
Canadian-based Arxx supplied the ICF forms, which were manufactured in the company’s Pennsylvania plant. Frank Bryan Inc. of Pittsburgh supplied the concrete. The project required 320 cubic yards of concrete, much of it with a fly ash component that made it a greener product.The thickness of the concrete walls varies by floor. The first two stories in the rear of the building have 10-inch thick concrete walls plus two and a half inches of foam on each side, for a total thickness of 15 inches.
Fast Work
Although site preparation was a challenge, most of the ICF work was not. Laying out the four-foot-long blocks required only five or six workers—one experienced lead person and the remaining carpenters. It only took about two weeks to get the building up. Due to the building design (large window openings) and its location, additional steel reinforcement was needed for support.
That steel reinforcing required some manipulation of the ICFs and included hand forming a 24-inch exterior concrete beam around the building. Locating the beam on the inside of the building was not an option because the space in the rear was needed for an elevator shaft.
Once the ICFs for an entire floor were ready, it took about six hours to fill the forms with a standard 4,000 psi wall mix concrete. On the exterior, crews covered the first two layers of ICFs with split face block (cast stone with recycled content) and the top two with recycled metal panels. Drywall covers all interior walls.
Environmental Positives
The use of ICFs in the construction of Windom Hill Place will offer a particular appeal for people who believe that green building is important - and who want to save money in energy costs over the long term.
The ICFs will help keep the energy bills low at Windom Hill Place. In combination with the special double-paned windows and a high-tech energy recovery ventilation system that Sota has used, the thick, insulating ICF walls should bring homeowners a 60 percent savings over what they would pay in a comparably sized, conventionally built home.
There are drawbacks to the technology, however. Even though they save money over the long term, homes built with ICFS cost more than those built with a wood frame. That has made these units, which start at $575,000, a tough sell in the Pittsburgh market. (PMI Mortgage Insurance Group has rated Pittsburgh as the most undervalued home market in the country.)
But Sota believes that ICFs were the right choice because of Windom Hill Place’s location. “If I had not used ICFs, I would have used poured in place concrete or Ivany Block, and each would have been as expensive or more expensive than the ICFs.” He still plans to do the next five units of Windom Hill Place with ICFs and, though he doesn’t have any other building projects using them on the drawing board at present, he says, “I will certainly do ICFs again.”
Concrete, It Just Makes Cents!
Unique pattern and color make this pervious concrete pad stand out.
The project featured tilt-up concrete construction as well as pervious and roller compacted concrete pavements.
Pervious concrete was selected because it offered a life-cycle cost advantage over asphalt.
Pervious concrete allowed the addition to be built, while maintaining impervious cover limits.
The building features Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) construction.
RCC placement met pavement load requirements and need for quick construction turn-around.
Concrete was the answer for the severe rutting that the street was experiencing.
Project is one of only eight strong walls in the US, and the only one poured monolithically
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.