Concrete homes are rapidly gaining market share in residential construction. In recent years, the growth has been so rapid that the Wood Promotion Council recently identified cement-based wall systems as “wood’s greater substitution threat.” Printed in the October 26, 2004 edition of the council’s newsletter, the report also stated that due to strong demand, cement shortages are being reported in 29 states. Jim Niehoff, residential manager for the Portland Cement Association says, “I think this is a great testament to the effectiveness of the combined promotional efforts of the cement & concrete products industries. Obviously, the wood industry will be working hard to recover their lost market share, but with concrete wall systems clearly outperform wood in the areas of energy efficiency, disaster resistance and noise mitigation, it’s very difficult to imagine them slowing the transition away from woodframing.”