Masonry Magazine November 2006 Page. 36
GREEN BUILDING
One of those is sustainable site planning, and by using permeable concrete or brick masonry pavements or open cell concrete masonry pavers, masonry can contribute up to three points in this category.
"Another category is energy efficiency and renewable energy," she continued. "Here, masonry and brick are well-known as energy-efficient materials with insulating value and high-thermal mass. They can also be used in passive solar construction by utilizing their thermal lag to reduce peak energy loads, thus decreasing the size of the building HVAC system."
Of course, conservation of materials and resources is on masonry's side. "Brick's small unit size helps divert waste from landfills, and salvaged brick can be used in road construction or other buildings," Hohmann said. "Brick and other masonry are among the most commonly salvaged building materials. Numerous manufacturers make brick that incorporates recycled or industrial waste aggregates that are rendered harmless when the brick is fired. Raw materials of brick, clay and shale are abundant and always nearby, making brick available regionally, efficient to transport and distribute."
Diane Travis, technical director of the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute, added a regional slant to that sentiment. "Bricks are basically made from clay and block is made from sand. Out here in Colorado, we have plenty of both. Dirt is not on the endangered species list. Although there is some energy consumed in manufacturing, the embodied energy for both brick and block is rather small compared with the amount of embodied energy needed to manufacture steel and glass."
In discussing the waste factor, Travis noted, "There is almost no waste with brick or block. They are relatively small and modular. If you have material left over, it can be used in another project. It almost never ends up in the landfill. Masonry does not burn or rust or rot. It does not dissolve when exposed to moisture."
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Masonry and the Architect
How do architects view masonry in a green environment? Jim Nicolow, AIA, LEED AP, heads the sustainability initiative at architectural firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent in Atlanta and is a LEED accredited designer. He said, "There are two distinct aspects or benefits of masonry: One is inherent qualities of masonry and the other is what the manufacturers have done to green its process. An example is a lightweight concrete block that we're using on a project in Atlanta. They took a CMU and made it greener by offsetting some of the Portland cement in the mix with fly ash, which is a waste product. Improving the process is legitimately greening the product.
"I know from personal experience that, in terms of selling it to owners or architects we often will decide to use masonry on a project because of durability, outside of the environmental consideration," he added. "But the particular masonry product we end up selecting, it will be one driven by environmental considerations. We'll decide on a product and then we'll pick a block based on its environmental characteristics. The final decision is driven by it being green.
"On the other hand, trying to sell inherent properties of a material often ends up being just 'green washing," he stated. "Like structural steel companies saying the steel in this project is 80 percent recycled. You can't buy steel without recycled content. It isn't that they've deliberately done something to improve the environmental performance."
Referring back to the LEED criteria, Hohmann calls attention to an important section where mason contractors can work closely with architects and designers. "The category is 'Innovation and Design Process,' where they recognize exceptional performance beyond the requirements in LEED or reward innovations in categories not specifically addressed by LEED," she said. "Possible areas where masonry can contribute include acoustic performance, life-cycle cost and durability, efficient use of materials with pre-stressed or reinforced masonry, and improved air quality by reducing the need for paint or interior coatings - thereby reduc-