Looking Beyond LEED for Masonry Green

There has been a lot of discussion over the years about how masonry can contribute LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points for architects and building owners who are seeking LEED Certification for their projects. Most of the interest to date has been focused on points available for the recycled content of our materials and/or whether or not our manufacturing plants and their associated raw materials are located regionally within 500 miles of a project site.

To a lesser extent there has also been interest in gaining points through “construction waste management” by the efficient use of our materials and minimal packaging, utilizing lighter colored masonry materials to combat the “heat island effect”, permeable paving for “stormwater management” and in using masonry’s inherent mass to “optimize energy performance”.

But one area that has been overlooked by LEED is “life cycle costs”. Masonry is a strong and durable material. Certainly most of us when thinking of blocks of stone, concrete or bricks would agree. Masonry does not require a lot of maintenance. It’s insect and water resistant. It will not provide a medium for mold growth and it will not burn. When properly designed and constructed, masonry structures have very long service lives. We see this everyday in schools, libraries, courthouses, etc., that were built at the turn of the last century and are now being renovated for another 100 yrs of service life. In short, because masonry lasts so long and requires such little maintenance, it is arguably one of the most cost effective materials on the market today.

Critics will argue that the amount of heat energy needed to manufacture brick is an excessive cost, without putting it in the context of its long life. The actual “embodied energy” of brick (the energy required to mine, manufacture, and transport) is actually less than that of concrete, glass, steel, aluminum, EIFS, wood and fiber cement products (AIA Environmental Resource Guide). Recent research data published by the National Brick Research Center, Clemson University, clearly shows that when cradle-to-grave assessments of all energy and pollution generated to manufacture building materials “over the warranted life” was chosen, brick, with its 100 year life span clearly comes out the winner.

It is unfortunate that the current LEED protocol does not effectively recognize the life cycle cost of building materials. Doesn’t masonry deserve the credit?

Steve Hubbard
Distributor Sales Manager

Updates from the ICPI midyear meeting

The Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI), held its summer meeting last week in Lake Tahoe. The meeting addressed a variety of topics pertaining to our industry. Below is a brief summary of the meeting’s key points.

ICPI is increasingly focused on trying to support member efforts in selling more concrete pavers for commercial applications. It is reasoned that member companies do a good job in marketing to homeowners, but they lack some of the resources or tools to impact commercial markets. The organization has an overall objective to increase the annual sales of concrete pavers in North America from around two sq ft per capita to four. In comparison, many European countries sell in excess of fifteen sq ft per capita.

Some of the key new initiatives to help members sell more pavers include the following:

· Expanded training programs for installers - The association will be offering two new training programs for paver installers in 2010. The first will be an advanced installer class that builds upon the original Certified Installer Program of which over 18,000 people have attended. This class will deal with greater technical aspects of paver installations and be available to those who have completed the basic installer certification. The other new training program will be a permeable interlocking concrete paver (PICP) installation class. Permeable pavers are identified as a potential growing market given their effective role as a component of stormwater systems. Permeable pavers can lessen the negative impact of development by reducing the flow of stormwater that would be generated in traditional paving systems. Both classes will be two days and will be taught by experienced concrete paver installers.

· New PICP Permeable Design Pro software - Developed through the efforts of the ICPI technical committee, this new software assists pavement designers in designing the right permeable pavement system given soil conditions, expected stormwater, and the use of other stormwater management technologies. Over 3,000 copies have been sold to date.

· The association has also initiated an effort to develop a national standard for the structural design of interlocking concrete pavements by the American Society of Civil Engineers group (ASCE).

· ICPI Foundation funds new curriculum for landscape architecture students -During the meeting the ICPI Foundation Trustees approved funding for the University of Georgia to create a web-based curriculum addressing the use, design, and construction of interlocking concrete pavers. The curriculum will also include permeable interlocking concrete pavers and their application to stormwater management. The web-based program is expected to be available to universities teaching landscape architecture across North America.

The next meeting of ICPI will be in February of 2010 in San Antonio in conjunction with NCMA meetings and the concrete show ICON. For more information about ICPI go to http://www.ICPI.org.

Sincerely,

Joe Bowen
President

Mutual in the News

Recently Mutual Materials has appeared in the news on both a national and local level.

Spokane's Sustainable Schools

The National Concrete Masonry Association wrote an article on the building of sustainable schools in Spokane in the latest issue of their magazine, Concrete Masonry Designs. With a rating system similar to LEED, the Washington Sustainable School Protocol (WSSP) for High Performance Schools was established with the purpose of designing schools to be more durable. Two out of the three schools used Mutual Materials concrete masonry units. The article also gives a good explanation of masonry’s role in contribution towards LEED points. Check out the article below.

Masonry in Sustainable Schools

Tacoma Family Goes Green

On June 3rd an article written by Dan Voelpel appeared in the News Tribune about a Tacoma family that recently completed construction on a "green" home. From the insulation to the fill dirt to the hardwood floors, the Chappell family made the painstaking decisions to go green. This includes the use of our EcoStone permeable pavers for their driveway. Click the link to see the article and a photo of their driveway.

Tacoma News Tribune

More on Permeable Pavers

Seattle Magazine also just published an article on permeable pavers this month. Written by Maria Dolan, the articles gives a few examples of homeowners doing their part by using permeable pavers throughout the City of Seattle, where "40% is covered by impervious surfaces". Check out the article.

Seattle Magazine

Mutual and WALP

Finally, Mutual Materials was featured in in the June issue of WALP's magazine discussing the importance of being involved in trade associations. Check out the article.

WALP Article