One of the benefits of working for an institution, like PCI, with excellent technical resources, is that I am able to share those resources with architects and engineers as they make choices about precast concrete.

I often talk to architecture firms, contractors and engineers about the tools available to them to aid in the design and construction of precast concrete buildings. As an institute, PCI has spent much time and effort creating quality publications that discuss the best-practices of our industry. To my mind, one set of publications published by the institute offers some of the best, most succinct information to be found anywhere about precast concrete -- The Designer's Notebook.

The annual PCI Design Awards competition is under way for 2010 and now is the time to submit your project for consideration. For 48 years, the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute has recognized outstanding projects for excellence in design and construction quality using precast/prestressed concrete. These projects demonstrate how designers are continuing to utilize precast, prestressed concrete components to achieve more cost-effective, sustainable, aesthetically pleasing, and quickly constructed projects. The two principal award categories are Buildings and Transportation Structures. There are also three special award categories: Best Sustainable Design, Best All-Precast Structure, and the prestigious Harry H. Edwards Award for innovation.

Built in 1999, The Center for Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio is a masterpiece of precast technology, demonstrating what lengths a precaster can go to work with an architect and move the technology of precast design to the next level. The precaster worked closely with architect Arata Isozaki to form a new type of precast panel that took on new dimensions and heights in architectural precast. The 158 precast concrete panels that form the outer walls took about 33,000 hours to design, engineer, construct and erect.

The TransAmerica Tower in San Francisco designed by architect William Pereira is among the seven wonders of the precast world because it showcases the heights that precast can attain, and because it exemplifies how Pereira used precast to create his unmistakeable style. Pereira often used precast concrete to create geometric facades.