Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1433288
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 | 15 Concrete P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E S Y C A N A D I A N P R EC A S T/ P R E S T R E SS ED CO N C R E T E I N S T I T U T E; A LT US G RO U P Brian Hall, managing director at the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, points out another invaluable benefit of concrete: its role in Accelerated Building Construction (ABC). This form of construction "Requires a paradigm shift in logic regarding project planning, procurement, and exe- cution. When project managers aim to minimize numerous mobility impacts that occur in tradi- tional onsite construction, they do so by elevating certain critical activities into groups and to a higher schedule priority. Interestingly, ABC does this organ- ically by incorporating modular and prefabricated construction methods for design and construc- tion of permanent and/or movable facilities, which addresses these critical groups of activities." Hall adds, "These entire systems can be used as comprehensive turnkey project delivery methods, which saves significant time and money over tradi- tional site-built methods. The 'construction' part of the ABC process utilizes prefabricated sections that are manufactured off-site. With ABC construction, precast concrete manufacturers are ideally brought on board at the same time that the owner hires an architect. Although this does require planning, the benefit is that the precast concrete producer can provide feedback on the design early in the process to ensure optimal construction. And all this can be done while the construction site is being prepared." John Carson, executive director of AltusGroup Inc. (an international collaboration of precast concrete companies dedicated to speeding and per- fecting the development of precast technologies that improve building environments), says of business in 2021, "We have enjoyed a record year of strong sales thanks partly to precast concrete systems being one of the most sustainable building materials in the building system coupled with the increased demand for data centres, distribution facilities, pro- cess plants, and multi-family homes in metro areas, which continues to rise." As of September, AltusGroup Inc. was plac- ing considerable focus on its flagship technology CarbonCast, which is an effective economical alter- native for conventional mass wall sandwich panels. CarbonCast Enclosure Systems use novel carbon fibre composite reinforcing technology combined Northside Community Centre, Red Deer, AB École Cure-Paquin, Saint-Eustache, QC