With buzz about sustainable building reaching a fever pitch in recent years, NPCA will make its inaugural appearance at the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Greenbuild Expo, hosted in Chicago this week.
For years, the concept of building sustainable structures that have a reduced impact on the environment throughout their lifecycles was a boutique idea reserved for a minute percentage of new construction. But if attendance at the annual expo is any indication – 800 booths and more than 27,000 attendees in 2009 – it’s a trend that is only going to continue to grow.
Located in space #1997, the NPCA booth provides attendees an inside look at the numerous precast products they can use above and below ground, including many different structural and architectural applications.
The USGBC’s LEED rating system places a high importance on the materials used during construction. Precast concrete uses recycled and regionally sourced materials, can help reduce site disruption, protects or restores habitat, provides nontoxic pest control, aids in surface water management and beneficial water reuse, and optimizes insulation and energy performance. In doing so, precast assists architects, engineers and contractors in earning points in the LEED system.
The NPCA exhibit features a large graphic of a typical business park that allows specifiers to visualize how precast products can be used. In addition to providing Greenbuild attendees with an inside look into the many applications of precast concrete, the graphic has been placed on the NPCA website at www.precast.org/possible to assist specifiers and lead them to in-depth information about each product, including a tool to find NPCA members who manufacture those products in their area.
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