When we’re speaking with a prospective client, there’s one question that often arises: Why precast? It’s a common question, and it’s a good one to ask before beginning your building design. Here are our top 5 reasons for choosing precast concrete over other building materials.
Fast Building Process
When you choose to build with precast concrete wall panels, your building exterior can be completed in under two weeks! That’s weeks shorter than it might take with any other building material. When your construction process can be so expedited, that means less time is spent in the construction phase and the tenant can move in sooner, which in turn means cost savings for you.
Increased Durability
Precast concrete wall panels are incredibly durable. Flexural strength, or the ability to resist bending, is how concrete panels are measured. Fabcon’s panels have strengths of 8,000 to 11,000 psi, which is at least 3,000 above what the American Concrete Institute recommends! So not only is concrete strong, but it’s also long-lasting. While masonry is susceptible to cracking and will need tuck-pointing, precast concrete only needs an occasional pressure was and re-caulking to stay as strong as it was brand-new.
Design Flexibility
A common misconception about precast concrete wall panels is that they don’t have a lot of design flexibility. This misconception actually has roots in early precast concrete. When it first emerged as a great building material, there was not a lot of design flexibility. In fact, some producers began reducing the integrity of their panels to make them more flexible in design. Then, we at Fabcon developed a new technology to help precast concrete wall panels both look great AND maintain their strength. There’s now plenty of design flexibility with concrete!
Sustainability
More than half of each of our Versacore+Green panels comes from recycled material. They also have a high R-value, which is a measurement of the resistance of the material to a flow of heat. High R-values mean more energy efficiency for the building, since the walls hold in heat or cool air, keeping utility costs and usage lower.
Safety
We’ve already established the strength of precast concrete panels. What does that mean for safety? Buildings made with precast concrete are less likely to collapse or get damaged during stormy weather. Precast concrete is also fire-resistant, earthquake-resistant, and mold-resistant.
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