Clark Pacific is up to the task in helping to provide higher levels of environmental friendliness. We work closely with architects and designers to adhere to the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) standards created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), as well as by the growing attention to climate change and the consumption of energy and materials in the United States compared to other countries. To reach these goals, designers are turning to us in the creation of precast concrete components, which provide a number of “green” advantages.

The key considerations come in such things as the positioning of the building and recycling activities done within the building. Due to the aesthetics that precast provides along with the sustainability factor, Clark Pacific is often called upon when precast concrete panels are requested. The precast panels we create help to achieve the LEED certification in a variety of ways by reducing the expended energy needed to manufacture, transport and erect materials, which are key LEED requirements.

Minimum Energy Performance

The building must meet energy-efficiency and performance requirements or the standards of a more restrictive local code, if it exists. Precast concrete’s key benefit comes from its thermal mass, which helps the material store heat and moderate daily temperature swings. When that advantage is used in insulated sandwich wall panels, in which a layer of insulation is sandwiched between two wythes of a concrete panel, the material can produce high R factors and lower HVAC needs. In addition, large precast concrete panels have minimal joints, reducing uncontrolled air infiltration.

Building Reuse - Durability and Longevity

Concrete’s durability in a total-precast concrete structural system or a structural/ architectural panels help to provide long life. Specific durability can be hard to quantify, because it depends on so many variables, including weather, maintenance and finishes. Compared to concrete, many other building materials simply do not last as long without significantly more maintenance. To achieve durability, high-performance concrete may be the only option. Precast concrete’s durability also can eliminate the need for interior partitions and exterior cladding, and the panels need to be re-caulked only every 20 years or so. This reduction in the use of chemical-based materials increases the building’s environmental friendliness. In addition, because total-precast concrete systems offer long interior spans via double tees and hollowcore flooring, buildings are easier to remodel or reconfigure as tenant needs change. This ensures the structure can remain in place long-term with only minor adjustments needed.

Recycled Content

Precast concrete components contribute to this requirement because supplementary cementitious mediums can replace a proportion of cement in the mix, and those materials are considered post-industrial recycled ingredients. The use of these materials is expanding, and they will grow in use as more designers learn about the options and the benefits. The significant reason the supplements aid concrete’s environmental friendliness derives from the use of Portland cement, a manufactured product using less energy during production. The most common supplementary cementitious materials are fly ash, silica fume and slag cement, all of which are waste products that would have ended up in a landfill had it not been reused. Recycled concrete also can be used in new precast components as aggregate. In many cases, the use of fly ash and other supplementary materials can produce a more durable product than a total-cement mix can provide.

Local/Regional Materials

Most precast plants are within close proximity to the project, and the raw materials used to produce the precast concrete components — cement, aggregate and rebar — are usually obtained from sources within the vicinity of the precast plant. This advantage leads many designers to replace granite, stone and other imported products with precast concrete panels. By using precast concrete rather than marble or granite, not only does it save significant shipping costs, but also results in environmental savings.

Construction Waste Management

Concrete’s inorganic composition makes it an ideal material to be recycled, and is frequently crushed and reused as aggregate for road bases or construction fill, enabling the reduction of construction, demolition and land-clearing waste that ends up in landfills.

When compared to traditional building methods precast concrete offers many waste-saving benefits. Less material is required to produce precast components because precise mix designs and tighter tolerances can be achieved. Less concrete is wasted because quantities of the materials are tightly controlled. The waste materials also are more likely to be recycled because concrete production takes place in one location under controlled conditions.

There also is less dust and waste at the construction site, because only the needed precast components are delivered. There is no debris from formwork and associated fasteners. Fewer trucks and less time are needed on-site because concrete is made offsite. This is particularly beneficial in urban areas where minimizing traffic disruptions is critical. Less noise is produced at the site as well, reducing noise pollution. A properly designed precast concrete system will result in smaller structural members, longer spans and less material used on-site and this often translates directly into economic savings as well as being eco-friendly.

Reuse. Reduce. Recyle. 

The end result is more of a positive domino effect: Less material used means using fewer natural resources and reduced manufacturing and transportation energy, leading to avoided emissions from mining, processing and transporting raw and finished materials.