Green bricks made with composite recycled materials
December 30, 2009 by Tom GuayPosted in: green buildings, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, News, recycling
The common brick is now part of the green revolution? Why not?
The Texas company Acme Brick, based in Ft. Worth, wasn’t going to sit back and watch a booming business go to its competitors that have found ways to add a green product line. How can you walk away from a market that’s expected to grow 7% over the next five years?
But rather than invent a green product, Acme Brick instead worked up a distributing deal with VAST Enterprises to market a line of green, composite paving bricks, which come in six colors.
VAST’s composite pavers are eco-friendly because they’re made from recycled materials — used auto tires and plastic containers.
Acme President and CEO Dennis Knautz says the move is part of a conscious effort to become a player in the green movement. As Knautz told the Fort Worth Business Press: “This market for green building materials is projected to expand by 7% annually over the next five years, and Acme Brick is committed to being our customers’ partner in green building.”
VAST’s pavers are LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. This means Acme helps its customers earn LEED green building credits for:
- construction and waste management
- recycled content
- regional materials
- stormwater designs, and
- heat island effect.
Tags: Acme Brick, composite materials, recycled content, stormwater, VAST composite pavers
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January 7th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Used tires and plastics, what about the fire hazards.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Individual products cannot be LEED certified. Certain products can however help a development or construction project get LEED points.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Seems to me I remember the whole issue of plastic in the water sources becoming a significant problem in the food pyramid. The bacteria try to eat the microplsatic particles that are the erosion from products. The critters can’t process the plastic, but it can’t reject it either so the plasticizers and particles are concentrated in the fats ad organelles through it’s short lifespan. The bigger critters eat the bacteria and so on till the plastic and its other chemical ingredients end up on our plates. Kind of the way plasticizers ended up in artic bears. Not sure I call that green. It does keep the carbon in the carbon cycle, but unfortunately to our detriment.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
I repeat, what is the level of fire retardation. Have you seen how hot and black tires burn, also plastics. I am concerned about homeowners using these bricks in or on their homes, have a forest fire closeby ( California beware) or a fire in their homes and when it hits these bricks and get burning, good bye house!
Can anyone tell me if there is anything to counteract this!
January 8th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Thanks for your good questions. Here are some answers:
Fire Retardation…
Tesing according the relevant technical standards found that VAST’s composite material is not flamable.
The details: UL 94 Section 7… VAST’s horizontal burning rate: 51 mm/min (2.0 in/min)
Note: A chemical is considered a flammable solid if, when tested by the method described in 16 CFR 1500.44, it ignites and burns with a self-sustained flame at a rate greater than one-tenth of an inch per second (6.0 in/min) along its major axis. Testing via UL 94 Section 7, VAST has observed a flame spread rate that is roughly one-third the limit recognized by the Code of Federal Regulations.
VAST’s Composite Material and the Environment…
VAST’s research indicates that the VAST composite material does not break down or leach and poses no harm to soils. VAST’s material is a combination of non-leaching plastics and scrap tire rubber. The majority scientific opinion is that crumb tire rubber (e.g., used as a wood mulch alternative) is inert, not hazardous and unable to breakdown naturally. Other research, with which VAST concurs, indicates that crumb tire rubber can leach small amounts of zinc. Even considering any possible leaching from crumb tire rubber, VAST’s composite material encapsulates the crumb tire rubber almost entirely (over 99%). Thus, very little of the rubber’s surface is actually in contact with the soils. And it’s the rubber that poses a leaching risk.
VAST and LEED…
VAST does not claim that its pavers are LEED-certified, because, as noted, individual products are not certifiable – only projects are. VAST Composite Pavers can contribute more to a project’s LEED certification than any other paver available on the market today.
Specifically, VAST can contribute to a project qualifying for credits in several sections:
2.1, 2.2 – Construction Waste Management (MR Credit)
4.1, 4.2 – Recycled Content (MR Credit)
5.1, 5.2 – Regional Materials (MR Credit)
6.1, 6.2 – Stormwater Design (SS Credit)
7.1 – Heat Island Effect (SS Credit)
1.1 – Innovation in Design (ID Credit)
Validation of VAST as a Green Product…
VAST has won the following awards:
Minnesota Cup, Most Innovative Start-up Company in Minnesota, September 2006
EcoHome Editors’ Choice Award, Top 10 Green Building Products, August 2009
Tekne Awards, Cleantech Award and Innovative Collaboration of the Year Award, October 2009
Environmental Design + Construction Readers’ Choice, Best Green Exterior Product, November 2009
Check out this article (http://vastpavers.com/blog/?p=521) on the University of Minnesota-Duluth incorporating VAST installations in its stormwater management plan.
Here’s another article (http://vastpavers.com/blog/?p=509) about the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), a federally recongnized Indian tribe, using VAST Composite Pavers as one element in a comprehensive set of green building materials and techniques.