CERTIFICATION PCI’S NEW ARCHITECTURAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM MOVES INDUSTRY FORWARD BY MONICA SCHULTES THE OVERHAULED ARCHITECTURAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM WILL ENCOURAGE THE ADVANCEMENT AND CONTINUATION OF CREATIVE PRECAST CONCRETE SOLUTIONS The Winter 2021 issue of Ascent included a story on the new PCI Architectural Certification Program and the substantial efforts that went into its creation. In-trospection is not easy, and even more difficult when it comes to long-standing programs. Yet PCI took the initiative to review the certification program and de-termined “we can do better.” This soul searching made it possible to quantify the gap between the status quo and the current requirements for complex archi-tectural façades. The resulting changes, including four new archi-tectural certification categories to replace the previous A1 cate-gory, are scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2021, and will enable the industry to embrace recent advancements in materi-als and production techniques without losing old-school crafts-manship. The next step is the widespread rollout of the new pro-gram and determining how best to move away from the old A1 catchall certification. Randy Wilson, director of Architectural Precast Systems for PCI, is leading the charge. “Instead of waiting for a project to present itself and have the precast concrete producers educate the archi-tects one at a time, PCI has taken a proactive approach to spread the word about these important modifications and the new guide specifications. If there is a need for clarification, it would be best to address them early in design development to minimize any surprises,” he stresses. The Study at University City won the Best Hotel/Motel Building category in the 2018 PCI Design Awards. The Study at University City in Philadelphia takes a creative approach to traditional brick. Taking the brickwork into the precast concrete plant gives the designer more control over the finished product. Photo: Halkin Mason Photography. AA
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