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Concrete Home > Concrete Homes Newsletter > 2009 > September/October

September/October 2009

• Concrete Home of the Future is Now: Greenbuild 2009
• Virginia Home Builder Switches to Concrete
• More Excellence in Concrete: 2009 PCI Design Awards
• Greenbuild 2009 Emphasizes Residential Building
• ICFA to hold Conference & Expo in Orlando
• New Masonry Resource Addresses Sustainability
• Ask The Expert
• Upcoming Events
• Tools of Our Trade
  -EB008
  
  

Concrete Home of the Future is Now: Greenbuild 2009

One of the featured projects of Greenbuild 2009 is the Salt River Materials Group (SRMG) Habitat for Humanity Concrete Home of the Future.  The home, a stop on the Greenbuild 2009 tour, will help promote concrete as the most sustainable building product.

The project was championed by Scott Palmer of Salt River Materials Group.  Taking a Habitat for Humanity project and updating it with concrete building products, Palmer will leave behind a modern, sustainable, safe living space for a needy Phoenix family.

Currently being considered for LEED-H certification, the project features a new concrete building system called HercuWall.  The ICF-based system features panels that can be delivered in customized “kits” to the jobsite, speeding construction time and cutting costs.

The SRMG Habitat for Humanity Concrete Home of the Future incorporates a range of sustainable concrete attributes, including:

• HercuWall framing system, providing net zero air infiltration
• Pervious concrete driveway
• Concrete roof tiles
• Recycled concrete used in floor construction
• Exposed concrete floors and countertops
• Concrete mixes using fly ash and recycled aggregates

 For more information on Salt River Materials Group, please click here.
For more information on Greenbuild 2009, please click here.
For more information on Habitat for Humanity, please click here.

Virginia Home Builder Switches to Concrete

Mike Brunick and John Reddecliff’s company, Definitive Homes, has been committed to building sustainable homes for years.  Recently they’ve turned to concrete to build these homes.

Definitive Homes, located in the Virginia Beach area, puts its emphasis on superior design, quality craftsmanship, and client satisfaction.  It was one of the first builders in Virginia to be certified as an EarthCraft Homebuilder —a program of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and Southface Energy Institute, which certifies homes that save least 30% in heating and cooling costs over a conventionally constructed home.

With support from the concrete industry, Brunick and Reddecliff are now using several concrete products in their homes, including insulating concrete forms (ICFs), segmental masonry retaining walls, and concrete countertops.  “Definitive is counting on the ICF’s energy and green benefits to offer a superior product with EarthCraft Certification,” Reddecliff says.  “Today’s buyer wants a high-performance green home that is affordable.  The most important facet of the EarthCraft certification is the ability to measure the home’s performance.  This gives homeowners peace of mind--and much lower energy bills.”

The ICFs used in the construction were distributed by Reid Pocock of Tidewater Polysteel in Virginia Beach.  Pocock praised the sustainability of concrete home building systems.  “The ICF used on this project offers the home buyer superior energy efficiency; a quiet and comfortable interior environment; fire, insect, and moisture resistance; and hurricane protection for family and belongings.”

For more information on Definitive Builders, please click here.

For more information on insulating concrete forms and other concrete building systems, please visit the Concrete Homes Building Systems web page.

More Excellence in Concrete: 2009 PCI Design Awards

In our ongoing recognition of the best concrete building projects, we look at the PCI 2009 Design Awards. Now in their 47th year, these awards recognize projects in two primary categories, buildings and transportation structures. A prerequisite for buildings is that they be sustainably constructed using precast, either for cladding, structure, or both. Building categories include commercial, industrial, residential and specialized structures. There is also a special Sustainable Design Award to promote green building and infrastructure, so it’s applicable to either buildings or transportation. This year, that award went to an affordable housing project. The sustainable design project and a few other winners especially noteworthy for low-rise appeal are summarized below.

Designed by Danois Architects, New York, New York, and Equus Design Group, Belmont, Massachusetts. Photo courtesy Michael Smith and Monica Schultes.

Sustainable Design: Melrose Commons Site 5. This Melrose place is anything but common. ; winning this category took standout performance. It achieved that by using precast for fast erection, minimal air infiltration, durability, decreased material waste, and inherent green building properties. To overcome constraints of a tight site and busy urban setting, designers chose an all–precast concrete building system and thin-brick veneer exterior wall. A LEED Platinum rating is anticipated, a first for precast housing. The 5-story project is noteworthy because it proves cost savings and sustainability can be compatible goals.

Designed by SmithGroup, Phoenix, Arizona. Photo courtesy Mark Duran.

Public: Two-Waters Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Administrative Complex creates a centralized location for community members to conduct government business. The precast prestressed panels are used in conjunction with a 3-story cast-in-place concrete frame. The project was noted for cost and placement advantages.

Designed by Howell, Rusk, Dodson Architects, Atlanta Georgia. Photo courtesy Ron Moon and George Spence

Multi-family: Irene and George Woodruff Family Residence Center provides temporary housing for families of spinal injury patients. The 7-story structure features a structural frame of precast elements and exterior precast wall panels with brick veneer. The project was cited for cost-effective, durable construction.

Click here for the complete PCI 2009 Design Awards.

Precast concrete contributes to sustainable construction (and earns credits in various rating systems) for recycled content, local manufacturing, and reduction of site waste. While durability is not always given credit via rating systems, the long life and low life-cycle cost of concrete structures are certainly sustainable benefits. Using LEED® v3 NC (new construction) as an example, the table below summarizes how precast concrete can contribute to project points in 5 of the 7 categories. It can provide 2 of the (required) 8 prerequisites and from 18 to 36 of the 110 total points.

Precast Concrete and LEED® v3 Rating System

Contact Jamie Farny or Donn Thompson.

Greenbuild 2009 Emphasizes Residential Building

Greenbuild 2009 will take place in Phoenix on November 11-13.  The quickly growing conference is put on by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).  For more information on the conference and how to register, please click here.

The second annual Greenbuild Residential Summit will be held in conjuction with the conference, also on November 12 and 13.  The event allows industry professionals to network and attend educational tracks to hear from some of the most knowledgeable voices in the green home building industry.  Special speakers include Tedd Bensen of Bensenwood Homes, Jeff Mezger of KB Home, and Steve Thomas, Host of Planet Green’s Inovation Nation.  For more information on the event and how to attend, please click here.

ICFA to hold Conference & Expo in Orlando

On November 4-6 at the Hilton Orlando, the Insulating Concrete Form Association will be holding its annual Conference & Expo.  The three-day conference offers educational tracks, an industry expo, and many networking opportunities for builders and industry professionals.

An air cannon demonstration is set for Wednesday, November 6 to replicate powerful storm winds, showing how ICFs can stand up to natural disasters much better than non-concrete wall systems.  The conference kicks off shortly after the demonstration.  After the new ICFA board is introduced, participants can attend valuable and informative sessions tailored to contractors and manufacturers.

ICFA is offering a special group rate at the Orlando Hilton for this event.  Please visit its website for more information about the event and how to register.

New Masonry Resource Addresses Sustainability

The Masonry Society (TMS) recently began publishing its Sustainability e-newsletter.  The publication serves to update TMS on sustainable building projects and trends, and discusses how the masonry industry can best position itself as the sustainable building product of choice.

The newsletter features green building projects, new green building requirements, industry news, and educational opportunities.  To view or subscribe to the newsletter, please visit The Masonry Society’s web page.

Ask The Expert

Rick Olson Technical Director TRI

Q: Are concrete roof tiles considered green building products?

A: Not only are concrete roof tiles green building products, they are also cool roof products. The Tile Roofing Institute (TRI) has been working on Green Building and Cool Roof programs for many years. Cool roofing is noteworthy because it results in reduced energy needs for building owners.

Concrete roof tiles offer two key performance aspects: energy efficiency and durability. Cool roofs made with concrete tiles have a built-in ability to allow natural air circulation through the tile system via an effect known as “Above Sheathing Ventilation” or ASV. In simple terms, this means that the airspace under the installed tiles creates airflow up the roof deck to the ridge of the roof. This air movement acts like a chimney to create an air barrier above the conditioned interior space, moving the heat away from the roof deck so that the undersides of the concrete tiles stay cooler. Research at the Department of Energy Lab (ORNL)1 shows that this can significantly reduce the transfer of heat through the roof deck assembly into the living space below. Heat transfer can be decreased nearly 70% compared to a similar roof assembly with traditional asphalt shingles. 

In addition to the air barrier provided by the ASV assembly, the tiles themselves also contribute to improved energy performance. Since concrete tiles are about ½ in. thick, they provide a thermal mass effect that is a further barrier against undesirable heat transmission. In hot climates, this can help keep the living space below the roof cooler. In cold climates, the thermal mass effect will likewise help prevent heat loss from the living space toward the exterior.

While concrete tiles can be made in virtually any color using gray or white cements, colored aggregate, and pigments, cool roof technology is now advanced enough that tiles need not be light colored for this benefit. To be sure, lighter colors provide even greater reflectivity of the sun’s energy back into the atmosphere. For those who prefer darker colored roofs, however, there are special pigment coatings that can be applied to the tiles so that these colors perform more like the lighter colors with regard to energy reduction.

Durability is another key benefit of concrete tiles, from hot to cold and wet to dry exposures. The TRI believes concrete roof tiles provide the lowest lifecycle cost of any roofing material in the market today. Because they last a long time and are manufactured locally with natural materials, they are considered to have one of the lowest “cradle to grave” energy consumptions of any roof tile, making them the preferred roofing material choice for all climates.

The following table shows the credits for which concrete roof tiles might help gain points under the LEED rating system.

Concrete Roof Tiles and LEED® v3 Rating System

For more information, please visit the TRI website at www.tileroofing.org, or email Rolson@tileroofing.org.

References

Miller, William, and Kośny, Jan, “Next-Generation Roofs and Attics for Homes,” Proceedings of the 2008 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C, 2008, pages 1-180 – 1-195. www.aceee.org

 Share your own Concrete Homes technical questions by forwarding them in an email to: concretehomes@cement.org.  We will respond by email and may even publish your question in our next Concrete Homes Newsletter.

Upcoming Events

Tools of our Trade

BESTSELLER! EB008: Concrete Masonry Handbook

The sixth edition of PCA's Concrete Masonry Handbook for Architects, Engineers, Builders reflects the state-of-the-practice for concrete masonry construction presented in a revised layout style. More than 200 color photos describe designing and building with concrete masonry. Like the previous version, this handbook contains nine chapters, giving comprehensive coverage to materials - from units, to mortar, to grout. The chapters on design and construction provide an introduction to the structural behavior of masonry elements, including the types of loads acting on structures, how loads are carried, key components of masonry walls, and a detailed description of placing masonry. Includes information on applications for concrete masonry structures, finishes such as paint and plaster, more than 40 details of masonry sections, and a brand new glossary.

For more information, click here.

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