AAC Conference Draws Industry Crowd at New Illinois District Council 1 Training Center

Industry experts from greater Chicago gathered in June to get the latest information on a dramatic new masonry material, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC), at the new BAC District Council 1 of Illinois’ Training Center (DCTC) in Addison.

Chicago-area architects, engineers, mason contractors, bricklayers, builders, developers, and Union officers benefited from a full day of IMI seminars and hands-on training in AAC.

The lightweight material gets high marks from BAC craftworkers because it is about one-third the weight of concrete block, and extremely easy to work with. Mason contractors like seeing how quickly the large, lightweight units go into the wall. “It’s a material whose time has come,” President John J. Flynn told attendees, who experienced AAC’s workability firsthand. IMI instructors oversaw hands-on stations where contractors, bricklayers, and architects constructed full-scale AAC mockups and troweled on coatings.

Roughly 250 Chicago-area architects, engineers, mason contractors, bricklayers, builders, developers, and Union officers benefited from this first full day of IMI seminars and hands-on training in AAC. Similar programs will soon be available elsewhere in the Midwest.

The AAC conference was the first of many major industry events
at the new BAC District Council Training Center. The new facility houses IMI’s apprenticeship and training function for Chicago-area Locals 20, 21, 27, 56, and 74. The official Grand Opening will be September 13, 2002.

IMI instructors demonstrated the benefits of AAC at the new IL District Council Training Center.