Sustainable Hardscapes
20 Sep, 2010 LDB SolutionsBrick and concrete industry aligns itself with sustainability and green standards.
Landscapers often mentally separate hardscapes from plantings when designing a landscape, but the concrete and brick industry want you to know their products are "green" as well. With more consumers looking for sustainable landscapes, the brick and concrete industries are touting their products' sustainability: namely re-use, durability, and energy efficiency.
Each year in the United States, more than $35 billion in direct property loss is caused by natural disasters. Yet, while states and municipalities are seeking to adopt ordinances that require “green” or “sustainable” construction, they are overlooking disaster-resistance construction.
To allow local governments to adopt green building codes that address high performance as well as conventional sustainable features, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) have developed High Performance Building Requirements for Sustainability 2.0. The criteria are written in mandatory language that amends and appends the International Code Council International Building Code (IBC).
The document includes the concepts in most other sustainability or green standards like energy, water and material resource conservation, and indoor air quality while enhancing disaster resistance and setting more stringent durability requirements.
“A sustainable building with a higher degree of durability can decrease the amount of materials going to landfills and use of community resources when disasters occur,” says Steve Szoke, PCA director of codes and standards, said. “After Hurricane Katrina, more than 44 million cubic yards of building materials and contents were disposed of in landfills. The PCA/IHBS ordinance provides mandatory requirements for increased resistance to natural disasters with the goal of reducing the number of destroyed buildings and protecting property, and saving human life.”
For landscapers, the idea of long-lasting durability is something to keep in the clients' minds when a site's architecture calls for a hardscape patio instead of a wooden deck. It's also something to consider when specifying outbuildings beside pools, near barbecues, or "outdoor rooms."
"In addition to surviving the ages, ancient structures and pre-mechanical temperature control buildings used masonry construction as 'thermal mass' to control interior living temperatures," write Alan Richardson and Peter Doo. Richardson is president of Potomac Valley Brick and Peter Doo, AIA, LEED AP is president of Doo Consulting. "Even today, most residential and smaller commercial buildings in Italy, for example, do not have air conditioning. Instead, they combine the use of brick and other masonry products, with shading, orientation of windows and shutters to keep their structures temperate."
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