The First Green Replacement for the Concrete Block

 

By Mignon O'Young, Editor

Four years ago, I asked a contractor and architect whether or not there exist concrete masonry units (CMU) with recycled content.  “CMU is CMU, just use the standard specs,” they said.  Fast forward to 2009, while speed-walking through the exhibit aisles at the 2009 Green California Summit and Exposition, I came upon Integrity Block.  The name was eye-catching.  I thought to myself, “green CMU—could it be?”

The What:  Integrity Block, a manufacturer of sustainable building materials, has developed a green replacement for conventional concrete blocks.  Its product, Integrity Block, is made from up to 50% pre-consumer recycled content-by-products of quarry operations, and engineered from a proprietary soil composite.  The compacted earth block inherently provides natural colors and thermal massing.   It can be used in lieu of traditional CMU and assembled with standard mortar and grout, reinforcement, finishing, and sealing.  Units come in the form of standard dimension blocks, bond beams, half blocks, pilasters, and interlocking units suited for architectural, landscape, and structural applications.  The structural units meet all relevant ASTM performance standards for load bearing CMUs and have the equivalent structural strength of standard CMUs. 

From an energy usage perspective, Integrity Block’s manufacturing process requires 40% less energy to produce and minimizes the content percentage of Portland cement.  Ultimately, it helps reduce pollution, CO2 emissions, and water usage, which all lead to a reduced carbon footprint.

The Who:  Co-founders Randy Schmitz and Trevor Stout are “dedicated to addressing climate change through the development and delivery of sustainable building materials.” Leveraging their expertise in technology start up ventures and influenced by Kevin Surace of Serious Materials, they set out in 2007 “to create a business that would have an effective triple bottom line and respond to the needs of the customers, shareholders, and the environment.”  

Randy and Trevor launched their product in June 2008 with great success.  Integrity Block was named one of the 2008 Top 10 Green Building Products by BuildingGreen and a winner of the 2008 Green Dot Award.  The product is competitively priced, satisfies multiple LEED credits, and is manufactured in Stockton, California.

Building blocks typically don’t garner much attention, but Integrity Block has finally broken the mold and is looking pretty sexy right now, so let’s hope that architects and structural engineers start specifying them!  Check out www.integrityblock.com and stay tuned for a future article featuring installations of the Integrity Blocks.

Comments

[Shawn Cunningham]

Michael, we agree with you on shipping expense and are determined to offer the product in your market, and are focused on using locally sourced materials in each market we enter. We have extensive factory roll out plans for the East, and I would recommend subscribing to our blog to keep track of new developments as we use that for all news, announcements and updates. There is great demand in your market and I would expect it will be early in the roll out priority.

Shawn Cunningham
Vice President of Marketing
Integrity Block

[Mignon O'Young]

Great question. I've contacted Integrity Block and expect to receive a response shortly.

[Michael Lowry]

While the product sounds great, there is a significant expense to truck CMU manufactured in California to the east coast. Are there any plans to build additional manufacturing sites?

[F3000 (reddit)]

Thanks for posting this. I am busy working on an eco friendly project. We are mainly using adobe mud bricks made on site and strawbale infill in some places. Still looking for a viable alternative to concrete floor slabs.