GREEN ADHESIVES
Going green means gluing green. To meet the challenge, adhesive makers have been working on environmentally-friendly formulas that, in many instances, rival the performance of their petroleum-based cousins. They’re using sustainable raw materials, such as rosin, and creating adhesives with low volatile organic compound emissions, for healthier air quality. Increasingly, some U.S. manufacturers are moving to put their products in “sausage packs.” Common in Europe, sausage pack adhesives come in aluminum foil wrappers that squeeze down flat, eliminating the big, cardboard tubes that end up in landfills. The packs fit special applicator guns.
TITEBOND GREENCHOICE
Titebond’s Greenchoice line includes seven solvent-free and one eco-safe polyurethane- based adhesive. Ranging from drywall to weatherproof subfloor adhesives, they’re designed to handle just about every need on the construction site. Low-VOC formulas promise clean air emissions. Sizes include 29-ounce cartridges and 10.5-ounce tubes for smaller jobs.
www.titebondgreenchoice.com
OSI GREENSERIES
OSI GreenSeries offers a line of adhesives and sealants that are GreenGuard certified and meet LEED requirements. The subfloor and deck adhesive, for instance, is latex based and ultra-low VOC, making it a good choice for interior jobs where off-gassing and odor is an issue. Also bonds to wet, frozen, and treated lumber. It comes in 28-ounce tubes.
www.osipro.com
CONCRETE IDEAS
Conventional slab and foundations are strong, but the amount of concrete and steel needed to make them uses a lot of energy. Companies are finding better solutions, such as substituting recyclable, fiberglass rebar for steel, and creating plastic forming systems that require less concrete. In the larger picture, leading-edge concrete makers are positioning the industry to be greener. They’re noting concrete’s heat-tempering properties, for example, such as incorporating thermal mass walls in buildings, or by paving parking lots that are more refl ective than blacktop, reducing heat island problems in cities.
MODULAR UNDER SLAB SYSTEM
Ontario-based Green Innovations has come up with a clever way to build a healthier slab and cut the volume of aggregate, gravel, and concrete. It’s a permanent, modular forming system made from 100% polypropylene forms that snap together and lock tight. Concrete gets poured over the form. It can be used for new construction or renovation. It creates underslab ventilation, and the forms provide a perfect venting set-up for controlling radon gas.
www.greeninnovations.co
TUF-BAR FIBERGLASS REBAR
Conventional steel rebar is heavy and it rusts. Tuf-Bar is made from fiberglass, and it’s corrosion resistant. But it’s also strong, twice as strong as steel, and only one-quarter the weight. Life expectancy is estimated at 100 years. It’s available in sizes #2–#8, as well as in bends and shapes. It’s worth 7 LEED credits in the United States; 6 credits in Canada.
www.bpcomposites.com
PERCENT CHANGE IN CEMENT PRODUCTION/USAGE 2005–2008
Global cement use climbed rapidly through much of the past decade, especially in China. Because it is so energy intensive to produce, cement is considered a major contributor to the climate change problem.
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