Recycled CMULEED Information for Lowe’s Concrete Masonry Units (CMU's)

Innovative Block Recycling Center in La Feria, TxDeveloped by the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) membership, LEED the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System is a voluntary consensus based national standard for developing high performance sustainable buildings. With well founded and documented scientific information, LEED provides the complete foundation for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals over six categories; Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation. We congratulate you on your decision to include concrete block in your latest construction project. We feel that block is an excellent environmental choice because !Lowes - Concrete Masonry Units (CMU's) !Improves indoor air quality by eliminating the need to paint, thus reducing associated volatile organic compounds, !Reduces the potential for mold growth because concrete masonry does not provide a ready food source for mold !Improves environmental impacts through life-cycle considerations !Improves fire safety for occupants and property !Improves acoustical performance !Made from abundant local raw materials !Manufactured close to construction sites, minimizing fuel requirements for handling and transportation !Able to produced using recycled aggregates !Manufacturing concrete block is extremely efficient. There is very little waste. !Because block is modular, there is little or no construction waste. If there is excess block at the end of construction, it can be returned to our plant and reused on another project. Damaged block can be ground up for aggregate. Concrete block never needs to end up in the landfill. When the building is demolished at the end of its life, you can either rebuild with it or you can grind it up for aggregate. It is important to note that LEED certification points are based on the overall building envelope, design, and performance. CMU's will help in the contribution to the gaining of points in three out of the six LEED categories

Innovative Block Recycling Center - La Feria, TX

240 E. 1st Street La Feria, TX 78559P. 956.797.4200 F. 956. 797.4200www.innovativeblock.com

Innovative Block Recycling Center in La Feria, TxCMU facility.

RecycledWhere Lowe’s CMU's Can Help Your Project Achieve LEED Credits:

Useful Links: www.usgbc.org Energy and Atmosphere Credits EA1.1 to 1.10—Optimize Energy Performance Concrete masonry has a high thermal mass. Heavy masonry walls change temperature slowly and store heat that can be radiated back into the building hours after the sun goes down. The thermal mass of these walls helps to dampen the temperature swings that are common in our climate. This ability to store heat makes buildings constructed with concrete masonry energy-efficient by reducing the heating and cooling demands when compared to other types of construction. Materials and Resources Credits MR2.1 and MR2.2—Construction Waste Management CMU's are modular. Because most masonry buildings are laid out to minimize cutting, there is little waste at the job site. On a typical job a mason contractor will order 5% to 7% more masonry than the job requires because he assumes that some CMU will be damaged in shipment and he wants to be sure he has enough to finish the job. We encourage the masons to bring this unused block back to our plant. If the block is undamaged, we can sell it again. If it is damaged, we can grind it up for aggregate to make new block. We estimate that this reusability and recyclability of the block will keep thousands of pounds of material out of the landfill.

240 E. 1st Street La Feria, TX 78559P. 956.797.4200 F. 956. 797.4200www.innovativeblock.com

Innovative Block Recycling Center in La Feria, Tx

We ship our blocks on wooden pallets. We charge the mason contractor a deposit on each pallet so that they will return them to us for reuse. Recycling the pallets on your job will keep more waste out of the landfill. Materials and Resources Credits MR 4.1 and 4.2—Recycled Content Innovative Block has the ability to incorporate recycled concrete in our CMU's. The recycled concrete that we use is deemed pre-consumer, so half credit is given. We have a lot of flexibility on the quantity of reclaimed material, but I don't offer something that we haven't proven in manufacturing and in the laboratory. We manufacture our products using many different mix designs and colors, and offer custom work as well. Several factors influence how much recycled material we can use in any given mix design. Some of those factors are; !Texture or finish - We can add more recycled material to a precision or smooth finished product than we can with a split face product. !Unit weight per cubic foot – Our recycled block will conform to a medium weight category. !Color - Some colors incorporate pumice (white), black cinders, and/or red cinders. The requirement to use those aggregates can reduce the amount of reclaimed concrete used in the mix. !Strength requirements - High strength units use more cement and therefore proportionally reduce the effective portion of recycled concrete. As an example; Using a medium weight mix design that meets ASTM C-90 requirements and utilizing the maximum amount of recycled pre-consumer aggregates we can achieve a 87% recycled content. This is a theoretical percent and would need to be confirmed via testing. This material makes up the percent of the block, calculated by weight. This material is classified as pre-consumer. The re-cycled material is very controlled. We use our own crushing machine and material generated on site to insure proper gradations and eliminate the possible of harmful contaminates. In addition to the CMU, all of the steel that is used in the CMU wall can be recycled steel. The grout that is place in the CMU wall can also contain recycled material as well. Materials and Resources Credits MR 5.1 and 5.2—Regional Materials Points are awarded when materials are manufactured regionally within a 500-mile radius. Our CMU manufacturing plant is located in south Texas along the Mexican border allowing us a large area to ship and service our projects. Raw materials used in the manufacturing process within a 500 mile radius of the project is also used to calculate the total regional materials. Over 99% of the materials used in our CMU's our sourced within a 500 mile radius of our normal job service area. Innovation & Design Process Credits ID 1.1 to 1.4 You can collect up to 4 Innovation and Design Credits. These credits are awarded to projects that significantly exceed the requirements of LEED rating system. They also are awarded to environmental strategies that are not recognized elsewhere in the LEED system. In the past, projects have earned LEED credits for: Durability Mold resistance Finishes that never need to be repainted Impact-resistant finishes Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can help you design your next LEED project.