By Claude Goguen, P.E., LEED AP
On a warm spring day in 2008, the NPCA Board of Directors joined to discuss the growth of the association and precast concrete industry. One topic all members present touched on was sustainability, so a task force was assigned the job of leading the association through uncharted waters.
Much has happened since that spring day. The task force is now known as the Sustainability Committee, a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of precast concrete was commissioned and completed, NPCA members use a LEED calculator and other documentation to help designers obtain LEED points and educational courses are taught at NPCA events. And to spotlight companies who adopted sustainable practices and recognize the associated benefits, the NPCA Sustainability Awards were formed in 2012.
Here is the list of The 2013 Sustainability Award winners. The awards are divided into four categories: producer plant, producer project, associate plant, and associate product.
To see complete descriptions of the winning projects and honorable mentions, visit precast.org/awards.
PRODUCER DIVISION
First Place project
Company: Smith Midland Corporation – Midland, Virginia
Project: Nelson Harvey Facility, Johns Hopkins Medicine Campus
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
After decades of wear, the hand-laid brick envelope of the nine-story Nelson Harvey facility on the Johns Hopkins Medicine Campus in Baltimore began failing. Architects needed a solution that met two criteria: a system lightweight enough to prevent any need for additional superstructure or foundation costs, and the facility needed to stay operational during the exterior renovation.
The Smith-Midland SLENDERWALL system met both requirements by allowing for the recladding to take place without removing the old fascia. The project included 158 SLENDERWALL panels with an Endicott brick facing, maintaining continuity with the original exterior. Smith-Midland also applied its closed-cell “H20ut”foam insulation sealant to the panels. These options will provide savings in time and on-site trades, and insurance against air and water infiltrations. The project is to be certified under Baltimore City’s Green Stars Program, which is an equivalent to LEED silver.
FIRST PLACE PLANT
Company: Shea Concrete Products – Amesbury, Massachusetts
Project: Solar Power Panels on Precast Plant
Location: Amesbury, Massachusetts
Shea Concrete went solar in the summer of 2013. The Shea facility in Amesbury powered up on Aug. 30 with a new, American-made, $1.4 million solar panel system installed on the roof of the plant. The 1,184 SunPower solar panels will produce an estimated 421,000 kw-hours per year. This makes Shea Concrete a Net-Zero electrical energy consumer, meaning that the solar panel system generates enough electricity to fully power the Amesbury location without
requiring any additional sources of electricity. The panels, which are American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-compliant, harvest an output that is on average 7% better than other panels annually and 20% more productive over the 25-year life of the system.
Honorable Mention – Producer Project
Company: Northeast Precast LLC – Millville, New Jersey
Project: Bimbo Bakeries – Thin Wall Panels
Location: New York, New York
The project saw integration of architectural and structural design into a lightweight sustainable panel system made up of sandwich and solid panels. The owners saw the advantages of this system with the elimination of the outermost steel columns, insulation value, additional square footage and the enhanced life cycle of the building.
Honorable Mention – Producer Project
Company: Northeast Precast LLC – Millville, New Jersey
Project: Boardwalk Casino and Townhouses
Location: Sea Isle City, New Jersey
This was a total precast sustainable solution for post-Sandy construction on the Jersey shore. This project was made up of sandwich panels, solid panels, NEP floor plank, columns, precast elevator shafts, inverted tee beams, double tees and other custom precast shapes and sizes. This building will not only be energy efficient and durable, but also resilient in the face of storms in the future.
Honorable Mention – Producer Plant
Company: Reading Rock Inc. – Cincinnati, Ohio
Project: Concrete Recycling Process
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Today, recycling concrete by “crushing” the material is part of Reading Rock, Inc.’s manufacturing process. However, nearly five years ago, trucks would haul the waste to a local dump site, which was costly and not environmentally responsible. In 2009, Reading Rock purchased a crusher to allow concrete materials to be ground down for reuse. In just over 36 months, Reading Rock saw a return on investment and has continued to see positive results over the past several years.
Associate Category
FIRST PLACE PRODUCT
Company: The Euclid Chemical Company – Cleveland, Ohio
Product: Tuf-Strand SF Macro-Synthetic Fibers
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
The building sector is a major contributor to the carbon dioxide footprint in any developed community. One way scientists refer to this footprint is by describing carbon dioxide equivalents or CO2eq.
An important way to decrease the CO2eq associated with building practices is to use materials that have a smaller carbon footprint. Polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC) is a versatile and high-performance material suited for concrete construction. The Euclid Chemical Co. recently partnered with the University of Akron in a research study to establish the benefits and potential reduction of CO2eq when using TUF-STRAND SF macro-synthetic fibers in concrete. The results of the study indicated that the use of polypropylene fibers reduced the CO2eq emissions by 56% compared with steel reinforcement. This analysis can be carried over to applications within the precast concrete industry to help reduce CO2eq.
FIRST PLACE PLANT
Company: The Euclid Chemical Company – Cleveland, Ohio
Product: Tuf-Strand SF Macro-Synthetic Fibers
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
The Euclid Chemical Co. continues to recognize that sustainability drives company success and employee satisfaction. Over the past several years, multiple projects have been deployed at Euclid’s manufacturing facilities throughout North America to improve metrics on waste management, energy consumption, water use and safety. These initiatives are communicated to the company’s employees and customers to demonstrate its commitment to being a good neighbor
and a respected business partner. Recognizing that sustainability is a process, Euclid promotes the foundational values of “people, plant and prosperity,” where the social, environmental and economic factors of day-to-day business are blended into the global and political arena. The company has instituted a variety of programs to trim waste and curb energy use and established a Sustainability Leadership Team to track energy consumption and improve efficiency at its plants.
Honorable Mention – Associate Product
Company: W.R.. Grace – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Product: Airtrac Air Management Technology
Sustainable structures must be durable, and it is well established that freeze-thaw durable concrete requires proper levels of entrained air, but high variability of air content batch is a vexing quality control problem. AIRtrac, a breakthrough technology, allows a step change in the ability to keep air levels within specified limits while saving time vs current practice.
Honorable Mention – Associate Product
Company: Hamilton Kent, LLC – Toronto, Ontario
Product: Watertight Box Culvert Joints
A total of 256 pieces of box culvert made by American Concrete will eliminate CSO discharges to the Kennebec River and Bond Brook. The watertight box culvert joints were sealed with the Tylox Super Seal rubber gasket manufactured by Hamilton Kent LLC. This will keep wastewater out of environmentally sensitive areas, and significantly reduces the amount of storm water entering the wastewater treatment plants.
Honorable Mention – Associate Plant
Company: Hamilton Form Company – Forth Worth, Texas
Product: Improving Sustainable Manufacturing Processes
Hamilton Form began developing a more sustainable facility and manufacturing processes in 2009. The efforts include an insulated and coated roof skylight, roof fans and energy efficient lighting. In addition, the company began recycling steel, paper, bottles and cans.
If you are interested in submitting an application for the 2015 Sustainability Awards. Please go contact Claude Goguen, Director of Sustainability and Technical Education, at [email protected]
Claude Goguen, P.E., LEED AP, is NPCA’s director of Sustainability and Technical Education.
Leave a Reply