Wright and Wagner Lofts Riverfront Building in downtown Beloit, Wisc.
The calendar has flipped to the month of love. With Valentine’s Day coming up, we’ve been thinking a lot about love. Our love of precast concrete that is. And we want you to love precast concrete as much as we do.
Precast concrete is known for its strength, sustainability, functionality, and durability. While we love ourselves a total precast structure, precast concrete also integrates easily with other systems and provides versatility, efficiency, and resiliency. It is the clear choice for building high-performance structures.
Strength
Reinforced precast concrete can handle heavy amounts of stress, point loads, and weight.
2. Sustainability
Precast concrete stands as a resilient and durable contributor to sustainable design, enhancing both versatility and longevity. PCI producer and supplier members, like us, are at the forefront of sustainability efforts in the industry. Precast also offers a long service life and low maintenance. Precast is a long-lasting, high performance material that will last decades. Precast facilities require very low maintenance, which benefits building owners.
3. Functionality
Precast concrete can provide an open floor plate, allowing a flexible interior that can accommodate a variety of scenarios. Column-free space allows additional flexibility in floor plans and layouts. Shallow floor thicknesses with fewer beams provide unobstructed ceiling cavities for mechanical and electrical systems.
4. Durability
Precast concrete provides excellent protection against high winds, storm surges and flying debris. It also provides inherent fire protection. Concrete does not combust and therefore helps contain fires in a controlled space. Precast hollowcore has a minimum one-hour fire rating and a structural topping can increase that up to a four-hour rating. When used for separation, precast concrete also helps prevent fire from spreading throughout a building or jumping from building to building. Vermin and insects cannot destroy concrete because it is inedible. Concrete is also not susceptible to rust or mildew growth.
5. Versatility
Precast concrete adapts to many different functions, making it a favorite among architects, engineers, and contractors. When it comes to aesthetic versatility, precast concrete comes in a variety of colors, textures, and finishes for a custom fit.
6. Efficiency
The definition of efficient is “achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.” Precast concrete embodies this term throughout every stage of a building’s life. Efficient design uses appropriate sized sections. Precast concrete production uses the least amount of labor and materials. The speed of installation accelerates schedules. There are also reduced operating costs for a precast concrete building.
7. Resiliency
A resilient, durable building starts at the building envelope and employs proper sealing, insulation, and adequate moisture protection. For a long-lasting building, designers need a tight building envelope with low-maintenance interior and exterior finishes, which precast concrete can provide.
There you have it - seven solid reasons to love precast concrete. Interested in learning more about how precast can be integrated into your next project? Contact our team at sales@msprecast.com.