Two concrete industry groups have launched website initiatives to boost their products’ reputations for safety and resiliency.

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) is well known for its industry handbooks and design manuals, but now the technical institute is enhancing its online presence to promote precast concrete as a building material.

The new Precast Protects Life website is part of a greater effort within the industry to portray precast concrete in a positive light as a preferred building material.

A similar push was made by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI), which aimed to emphasize why steel-reinforced concrete is a safe product with the inherent properties of resilience, durability and sustainability.


CRSI launched a website with the tagline “Safe and Sound.” Dave Mounce, director of communications for CRSI, said the website addresses challenging issues as they occur in the industry. 



“We’re going to use this vehicle as kind of a quick response,” he previously told WOC360.com. “Instead of having something buried in our website, we’re going to use this landing page to address industry issues as they pop up.”



Mounce said misinformation that spread in the immediate aftermath of the Surfside condominium collapse in Florida in June 2021 could be addressed on CRSI’s new platform. Similarly, the new PCI site will provide easier access to case studies and technical videos. It is divided into four sections: adaptability, resiliency, life safety and life quality.

Jim Schneider, executive director of PCI’s Mountain States region, said the institute wants to start conversations with contractors, designers and engineers about the importance of safety in the built environment. 



“Buildings have always faced threats from forces like fires, storms, earthquakes and floods,” Schneider said. “The idea of resilience is not new but has taken on greater importance given that a changing climate and the increased complexity of our structures and society have made us increasingly vulnerable to these threats.”

The website represents the next stage in the evolution of PCI, which was founded in 1954.

Today, PCI membership ranges from concrete producers to educators and students. It disseminates information for the design, fabrication and construction of precast concrete structures and systems.

CRSI, founded in 1924, is a technical institute that provides information related to steel-reinforced concrete construction.