A 2026 Western Cement Summit panel afforded California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) Executive Director Tom Tietz a backdrop to announce the launch of Resilient Rebuild Hub, a portal informing Golden State homeowners and public officials of cement-based alternatives to conventional wood frame home building methods.
The Hub is the latest offering from Building With Resilience, a campaign CNCA, the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association and National Ready Mixed Concrete Association initiated last year as home owners and their elected representatives assessed rebuilding strategies in the wake of the Pacific Palisades fire that devasted communities north of Los Angeles days into 2025.
Resilient Rebuild provides the basics of six home building approaches where cement-based materials anchor structural and enclosure elements: conventional or composite insulated concrete form; concrete masonry unit; precast insulated sandwich panel; 3D shotcrete, and 3D-printed.
“Families rebuilding after wildfires or building in high-risk zones shouldn’t have to become fire science experts overnight just to make a good decision for their home,” said Tietz at the Newport Beach, Calif., gathering. “This new resource brings together approaches for proven building systems, in plain language, at exactly the moment homeowners need it. The site also provides information to engage knowledgeable professionals who can help during the build process.”
“We need to proactively rebuild in a way that slows and prevents future wildfires in local communities from taking hold and advancing,” added fellow panelist Steve Crosby, who lost his Pacific Palisades home and a vast repository of memorabilia from his grandfather, singer and actor Bing Crosby, last year. “I was fortunate to find information on how to accomplish this by using readily available non-combustible materials, and my hope is that this Hub makes it easier and more accessible for everyone wanting to build or rebuild in any area impacted by natural disasters.”
Joining them on the panel was Janek Dombrowa, principal of Los Angeles-based JTD Architects. “Building with resilience is more than building in concrete,” she observed. “It’s about how we design spaces that are safer, more livable, and more aligned with our perceptions of a sustainable home and environmental realities of life in the Wildland Urban Interface.”
