The answers are out there

With the kind permission of RCI, the international association of building envelope consultants, I’m republishing this article authored by Paul Grahovac, PROSOCO’s Building Envelope Group Technical Director. The story originally appeared in the April edition of RCI’s technical journal Interface.

Genesis Of A Waterproof Flashing System For A Damp Climate tells the story of contractors who refused to settle for industry-standard building-envelope products that routinely failed in the challenging Pacific Northwest environment.

End-note references are noted in parentheses in the text.

This rotted plywood from a vapor-impermeable peel and stick that trapped moisture is typical of what repair contractor Tatley-Grund, Seattle, finds in water-damaged buildings. They found it counter-productive to repair problems like this with the same methods that they felt caused the damage to begin with. Photo courtesy of BEI, LLC

Genesis Of A Waterproof Flashing System For A Damp Climate
By Paul Grahovac
The answers to common construction problems are out there.

Tatley-Grund, Seattle, Washington., a contracting firm specializing in whole-building repair of water-damaged multi-story structures, often sees failed peel-and-stick flashing membranes on rough openings.

During forensic investigations of buildings suffering water intrusion problems in the Pacific Northwest, principals Stacey Grund and Ron Tatley have documented repeated cases of adhesion failure that let water into the building envelope.

“We’ve removed the cladding and seen the membranes peeled away and curled up,” Grund says. “We’ve seen where contractors have had to staple the membrane to the sheathing because it wouldn’t adhere to a wet surface.”

The majority of the firm’s work is on buildings less than five years old; far too young, Grund says, to need this kind of repair.

He has testified as an expert witness in over 85 lawsuits concerning these failures.

Part of the reason for the stream of building envelope failures rests with the unique climate of the Pacific Northwest, Grund says. Though the area gets less rain than is commonly believed, it has a high percentage of cool, wet days. That means not enough wet/dry cycles, which takes a toll on building envelopes.

Only 3 years old, this Seattle apartment complex had its cladding removed, windows replaced, repairs made to rough openings and sheathing, and cladding replaced at a cost of $14 million, after its traditional air and water barrier products failed. This type of failure was the genesis of STPE air and water barrier products, since the contractor didn’t want to make repairs with the same techniques that failed in the first place. Tatley-Grund photo.

Current methods also must shoulder some responsibility.

ASTM E 2112 – 07 Standard Practice for Installation of Exterior Windows, Doors and Skylights requires 21 steps to properly flash a rough opening, creating, by some counts(1), 74 interfaces between membranes and sheathing. In a multi-story building with 300 windows, for example, that’s 22,200 opportunities for air and water to leak through.

And in real-world circumstances — in a repetitious 21-step procedure repeated dozens of times a day — it’s possible for even the most dedicated, competent installer to miss a step. Unfortunately, that one missed step can, and often does compromise an entire wall assembly when it permits water intrusion.

It’s no wonder that the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Building Assessment Survey and Evaluation (BASE ) study of 100 randomly selected U.S. office buildings found 43% of the buildings had current water leaks, and 85% had experienced previous water leaks.(2)

In their own work in the late 1990s, the partners concluded it was counter-productive to repair water-damaged buildings using the same methods that appeared to fail in the first place.

Being contractors, they wanted a rough-opening flashing system that could meet the needs of their clients and the demands of the real world — especially the extra damp Pacific Northwest.

They wanted something simple to install, that could tie into existing air, water and vapor barrier systems, and that they could guarantee to their clients would not delaminate, rip or otherwise fail for the designed life of the building. Unfortunately, nothing like that existed.

That didn’t stop them. They began with a wish list. Tatley-Grund’s ideal flashing system must:

• Bond to damp surfaces, since dampness is a fact of life in the Pacific Northwest
• Be immediately waterproof in case of rain
• Be fluid-applied to avoid “build up” that could affect how well the window fits into the rough opening
• Adhere permanently and without a primer
• Not shrink
• Be VOC-compliant, low-odor, and environmentally friendly
• Be opaque when target thickness is achieved so the installer knows when the right amount is applied
• Withstand exposure to weather for up to six months in case of construction delays
• Be compatible with most paints
• Be vapor-permeable
• Have few and easy application steps
• Be easily repaired
• Self-seal around fasteners

Tatley led the search. For four years he tried and discarded urethanes, acrylics and silicones.

In 2004, after repeated unsuccessful tries with their existing products, a silicone sealant manufacturer pointed to Tom Schneider, an expert in polymer chemistry.

Schneider told the partners that with some work, a modified silyl (MS) polymer resin known as silyl-terminated polyether (STPE) might work for their purpose.

Guided by the wish list, the Seattle contractors and the chemist worked together to harness the substance for flashing rough openings.

It turned out to be well-suited to the task. The result, an STPE-based fluid-applied flashing system meeting every checkpoint of the Tatley-Grund wish-list, has been in continuous use, for both repair and new construction since 2005.

Since then, the company has found the STPE resin versatile enough to be the base for a gun-and-spread joint and seam filler, and a roller-applied primary air and waterproof barrier.

Architectural Record magazine recognized the STPE-based flashing system in the publication’s list of top waterproofing products of 2010.(3)

STPE Chemistry
STPE-based products are the leading construction sealants in Europe and Asia – including Japan where STPE was developed in 1978.

In their raw state, STPEs are clear resins. At the molecular level, STPE consists of a polyether “backbone,” with methoxysilyl chains on either end.

With moisture and the proper catalyst, those chains condense together creating weather-repellant durable silyl bonds to hold the high-performance membrane together, Schneider explained.

This results in several of the properties Grund and Tatley sought for their wet locale, such as being instantly waterproof on application, being useable on damp substrates, and at the same time, curing even faster in case of contact with water, such as rain.

Those weren’t the only reasons Schneider thought STPEs were good candidates for Tatley and Grund’s flashing system.

Edward M. Petrie, author of McGraw-Hill’s Handbook of Adhesives and Sealants, wrote a paper4 on silyl-modified polymer technology for The Adhesives and Sealant Council. In it, he compared MS polymers such as STPEs with urethane and silicone sealants. He used a table to show how MS polymers out-perform the others across a range of factors.

Petrie noted a major MS polymer drawback; strength-loss over long periods of UV exposure.

STPE-based rough-opening flashing and primary air and water barriers could be compromised in case of lengthy exposure during construction delays. That was one of several issues Schneider knew he’d have to address.

From resin to reality
The hardest part about going from the raw material to the finished product, Schneider said, was that there was no one to ask when he had questions. The overseas manufacturer of the raw material was tight-lipped, and few in the U.S. had heard of STPEs.

He started with what the resins already had that corresponded to the wish list: they were flexible, durable, and resistant to heat, cold, water and chemicals.

They were solvent-free. They could self-seal around and to fasteners. They had excellent adhesion on a wide range of substrates, and so could tie in to existing barrier systems. They were vapor permeable and had a suitable cure rate.

Unfortunately, the available STPE resins all varied in viscosity, flexibility and strength, Schneider said. None was exactly right. He mixed and matched until he had a blend the contractors liked.

Alone in the laboratory, Schneider worked to create from the STPE resin a product with all the properties called for by Tatley and Grund’s wish list. He experimented with UV inhibitors, treated pigments for impact-resistance, increased vapor-permeability and flow characteristics, anti-microbials and plasticizers.

Time after time he’d take his latest batch to Seattle for the crews to try out, and time after time he returned to the lab to try again.

It was only a matter of time. That time turned out to be 2005.

Flashing rough openings
In its 2005 debut, here’s how that first alternative to peel and stick membranes worked.

1. The waterproof flashing membrane, which they named Wet-Flash PM 7000, is gunned out of a cartridge and over the entire inside surface of the rough opening, 12 mils thick and 4 – 6 inches out onto the sheathing or CMU wall around the rough opening.

– An applicator demonstrates the relative simplicity of waterproofing a rough opening with the STPE-based flashing system. Photo courtesy BEI, LLC

2. A pre-creased textile counterflashing is adhered to the bottom of the rough opening, folded over the sill and pressed into the flashing material.

3. After a 15- to 30-minute cure-time, the window goes in.

For flanged windows, the PM 7000 applies over the flanges except for drainage weeps left in the sill area.

That’s simpler than the 21-step ASTM E 2112 – 07 method.

Tatley – Grund’s method also solved “build-up.” In splicing and wrapping corners of rough openings with peel and stick, Grund said, installers sometimes find they’ve built up the surface an extra quarter to three-eighths of an inch. In those cases, windows have to be jammed in, which can damage the peel and stick and compromise the rough opening’s water-tight integrity.

“That’s one reason we wanted a fluid-applied solution,” he said.

Field performance
The first field trials of the fluid-applied STPE flashing system took place on several window-replacement projects in early 2005.

While the formulation lived up to most expectations, Schneider said it required adjustments for viscosity (needed to be thinner), cure-time (it was drying too fast) and color. Applicator feedback indicated changing the color from gray to red would make it easier to inspect the flashing for correct thickness.

A further refinement added fiber to the resin to reduce “drippiness.”

One of those early projects took place in 2005 at Renaissance Condominiums in Seattle. In 2009, Tatley-Grund returned to the Renaissance Condominiums with independent inspectors from OAC, Seattle, a full-service architecture, construction support and forensic engineering firm.

The visit’s purpose was to inspect a representative sample of the building to gauge how well the STPE-based flashing had protected the rough opening and surrounding sheathing over the years.

With owner permission, the investigators removed about 50 square feet of Hardy Board siding and weather-resistive barrier on the building’s exterior to reveal the sheathing and rough opening. From inside the building, they cut an opening beneath the window so they could inspect the wall cavity.

The inspection addressed the south and west corners of the building, since those are the elevations most exposed to Seattle’s wind and rain patterns, according to OAC’s report.

The report states the inspectors found Tatley-Grund’s flashing system in good repair, functioning as intended, and all inspected surfaces dry and in good condition.

Tatley-Grund plans to re-inspect in 2015.

Since Schneider’s first successful batch of STPE flashing material was applied on rough openings in 2005, he has helped Tatley-Grund pioneer other STPE-based products and procedures to make their repairs to water-damaged buildings more effective.

They include a joint and seam filler, and a roller-applied primary air barrier.

Testing
Tatley-Grund’s STPE system passed ASTM E 2357-05, Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage of Air Barrier Assemblies. In this test, the joint and seam filler, original flashing and primary air barrier products — all derived from the STPE base resins, — were tested at 75 pascals of pressure, corresponding to a 25 mph wind.

The system also passed the International Code Council Evaluation Service – Acceptance Criteria 212 for water-resistive barriers. The water-resistive test requires the coating to perform at least as well as asphalt-impregnated building paper.

Since climatic conditions in the Pacific Northwest routinely exceed the preceding test requirements, Tatley and Grund built their own test chamber in which they could subject mock-ups to more stringent weather simulations.

Ron Tatley makes some adjustments to the Design Verification Test Chamber he developed to test the air- and water-tight integrity of wall assembly mock-ups. PROSOCO photo

Testing assemblies rather than single products is important, they reasoned, since it doesn’t matter if an individual component can pass a test, if the assembly fails.

Tatley built what was basically a giant metal box about 10 feet high, 30 feet around and weighing around 12,000 pounds.

Wall-assembly mock-ups fit airtight into the open side of the box. The exterior side of the mock-up faces into the box, where there are nozzles to simulate rain, and fans to build air pressure. The interior side of the mock-up faces out, so inspectors can see where water is forced through.

Water almost always comes through, Grund says, because they usually test to failure. It’s good to know exactly how much stress an assembly can take, he says.

An inspector points to where air pressure simulating wind-driven rain has forced a leak in a wall assembly mock-up during testing in the Design Verification Test Chamber. PROSOCO photo

The Design Verification Test Chamber also features sensors and gauges to accurately measure that stress, which, Grund says, can be ratcheted up to Category 5 hurricane levels.

They’ve used the chamber to demonstrate the STPE system’s ability to withstand hours of water spray-driven at 2,880 pascals of pressure and racking movement corresponding to the 155-mph wind-driven rain of a Category 5 hurricane.

Air leakage testing
In chamber tests similar to ASTM E 2357 air barrier assembly testing, but using a smaller mock-up, Tatley, Grund and Schneider found their STPE system limited air leakage to 0.17 air changes per hour (ACH). That exceeds the 0.6-ACH passive house air leakage standard. It far exceeds the 5.0 ACH Energy Star standard for Climate Zones 3 and 4.

The results are supported by recent project testing at the Karuna(5) Passive House, under construction in Yamhill County, Oregon, where a partially installed STPE air-barrier system achieved .42 ACH in blower-door testing.

An installer seals a rough opening with an STPE-based flashing at an under-construction passive house in Yamhill County, Ore. The builders chose the fluid-applied flashing because of demonstrated performance in stopping air leaks through the building envelope. Photo courtesy Hammer and Hand

Compatibility
Adhesion to a wide range of surfaces, including damp ones was important, Grund said, since repairs require the flashing to tie into existing air-, water- and vapor-barrier systems. However, Grund noted that adhesion alone is not sufficient for long-term compatibility.

“For example, we’ve seen sealants with excellent adhesion on peel and sticks over the short term,” he said. “In the long term, some sealants block off-gassing from peel and sticks, resulting in discoloration and damage.

“If you don’t know from experience and/or prior testing whether two products will be compatible it’s best to test,” he said.

“We’ve found heat-testing and accelerated weathering testing are good predictors of long-term compatibility,” Grund added.

Environmental
As sealants and adhesives, STPEs have long been known for environmental friendliness, another item on the Tatley-Grund list. They contain no solvents or isocyanates(6), common to many sealants.

An STPE-based air and water barrier system derived from Schneider’s formula was recently installed on the under-construction Bullitt Center in Seattle. The Bullitt Center is being constructed according to the requirements of the Living Building Challenge(7). When completed*, it will stake a claim to being the greenest office building in the world(8).

This architectural rendering shows the net-zero Bullitt Center, Seattle. The Bullitt Center has an environmentally friendly STPE-based air and waterproof flashing system to help it meet the stringent energy conservation standards required to be certified as a “Living Building.” Rendering courtesy of Miller-Hull Partnership

Builders chose the STPE system first for its demonstrated ability to hold air leakage to Passive House and Net-Zero levels. They also chose it because it didn’t have any ingredients from the Living Building Challenge’s “Red List” of environmentally harmful substances.

Conclusions
In the end, this is not the story of a “miracle product,” but simply of existing chemistry being applied to and solving known problems.

“Although daunting to consider and potentially expensive on the front-end, long-term solutions to difficult problems are achievable,” Grund says. “As was the case with Tatley-Grund over 10 years ago, the existing materials the market offered were insufficient. We took it upon ourselves to develop and make our own material/system.

“That resulted in a much better finished product for our customers, and reduced risk and higher profitability for the company.”
###

References
(1) Rethinking the way we build, David W. Boyer, SWRI Applicator Magazine, Summer 2011, pp. 6-11
(2) Baseline information on 100 randomly selected office buildings in the United States (base): gross building characteristics, Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol. 1, pp. 151-156, http://www.epa.gov
(3) Architectural Record, December 2010, Product Reports-Thermal & Moisture Protection
(4) MS Polymers in “Hybrid” Sealants, Edward M. Petrie, The Adhesives and Sealant Council.
(5) Field Notes blog post, Aug. 3, 2012, HammerAndHand.com and Green Journey blog post, Aug. 15, 2012, greenpiece1.wordpress.com
(6) Isocyanates are the raw materials that make up all polyurethane products. They include compounds classified as potential human carcinogens. Isocyanates, http://www.osha.gov
(7) More information on the Living Building Challenge, arguably one of the world’s most stringent environmental standards, can be found online at living-future.org
(8) The greenest commercial building in the world, http://bullittcenter.org/

*The Bullitt Center celebrated its grand opening on Earth Day, April 22,

About the author:

Paul Grahovac

Paul Grahovac works for PROSOCO, Lawrence, Kan., as the company’s Building Envelope Group Technical Director with 17 years experience in the building products industry. His professional activities include: LEED AP, International Code Council, Air Barrier Association of America Technical, Flashing, and Whole-Building Testing Committees, National Concrete Masonry Association’s Air Barrier Task Force, ASTM Committees on building performance / vapor permeability / window installation, RCI, ASHRAE, and the following National Institute of Building Sciences Councils: Building Enclosure Technology and Environmental Council (BETEC Building Enclosure Integration Committee) and the Council on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.

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The day after Earth Day

View from the 6th and top floor of Seattle’s Bullitt Center. John Young photo

PROSOCO’s videographer John Young took his camera to Seattle last month for the Earth Day grand opening of the Bullitt Center, regarded by many as the greenest commercial building on earth.

John went out there because PROSOCO supplied the Bullitt Center’s R-GUARD FastFlash Air & Waterproof Barrier system. That system stops air and water leaks through the building envelope at a level that helps the Bullitt Center meet the Net Zero energy efficiency and environmental responsibility requirements needed for certification as a Living Building.

The day after Earth Day, John did video interviews with two of the men who played pivotal roles in getting the Bullitt Center built — Denis Hayes, president and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation, as well as a founder of Earth Day; and Joe David, project associate and sustainability program manager with Seattle real estate company Point 32.

Here’s John’s report.

Report on the Bullitt Center
by John Young, PROSOCO

It has been all over the news (New York Times, Time, NPR, Popular Mechanics), so you might already know this, but the Bullitt Center is a pretty unique building. It is being touted as the greenest commercial building on the planet, and rightfully so. All the energy the building needs comes from its solar panels. All the water it needs comes from rainwater collected and recycled on site. It is designed to last 250 years and none of the products used to build the building contain toxins (materials or chemicals on the Living Building Challenge’s Red List)

Suffice to say, a building like this is going to have a pretty unique story of how it came to be. That was the story we wanted to capture when we set out for Seattle for the Grand Opening of the Bullitt Center last month.

Fittingly, the Grand Opening ceremony took place on Earth Day April 22. The crowds were big and the enthusiasm was high, but for me the highlight for me was the next day. That was when we got the chance to sit down and interview some key people involved in the Bullitt Center construction.

At 9:30am, the day after Earth Day, we had an on-camera interview with Denis Hayes, who in 1970 was coordinator of the first ever Earth Day. What was striking is that for Denis and for the others involved, the Bullitt Center very much represents a turning point in the construction industry.

PROSOCO’s involvement in this project is a pretty interesting part of this story, and one you will probably be hearing us tell quite a bit. Joe David, Project Associate for Point 32, was given the difficult task of finding products that were able to achieve the Bullitt Center’s tough performance goals while also being Red List compliant. That is where PROSOCO’s FastFlash products come into the story.

We found a lot of great people and great stories at the Bullitt Center. Over the next few months we will be putting all of the video footage together to tell the story of the Bullitt Center, what it means for today’s construction industry and what it means for the future of the industry.

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They did it in Seattle

David Boyer, PROSOCO, views the Seattle Skyline from a top-floor conference room in the Bullitt Center during opening ceremonies for the building April 22. John Young photo

PROSOCO President David W. Boyer authored the following post after returning to Lawrence from opening ceremonies for Seattle’s Bullitt Center last week.

Constructed according to the Living Building Challenge 2.0, and featuring an R-GUARD FastFlash Air and Water Barrier, the Net Zero energy-efficiency Bullitt Center has been hailed as the world’s greenest commercial building.

They did it in Seattle
by David W. Boyer, President

I’ve long been skeptical of the “green” movement in construction, while at the same time I hoped it could succeed.

My skepticism was born of early attempts at “environmental friendliness” that valued appearances over quantifiable data, and “green washing” that abused the hopes of many who truly wanted proven environmentally responsible products.

But as I toured Seattle’s Bullitt Center — arguably the world’s greenest commercial building — during its grand opening April 22 — Earth Day, and not by coincidence — I realized someone finally did it. Someone finally proved you can be environmentally responsible and sustainable, by the numbers.

Seattle’s Bullitt Center, opening day April 22. John Young photo

I went to the grand opening because the Bullitt Center has a PROSOCO R-GUARD FastFlash air and water barrier system installed. FastFlash, as you may know, is PROSOCO’s ultra-durable, fluid-applied system for stopping air and water leaks through building envelopes.

It performs at a level that helps buildings reach Passive House, and in the Bullitt Center’s case, Net Zero levels of energy efficiency.

Net Zero energy efficiency is one of the checkpoints of the Living Building Challenge. That’s likely the world’s toughest environmental construction standard, and the one the Bullitt Center was built to meet.

The “Red List” is another checkpoint for the Challenge. It’s a list of over 300 chemical substances, many of which are found in hundreds of common building materials — substances proven harmful to people. Bullitt Center design firm Miller Hull Partnership and general contractor Schuchart Corporation designed and built the six-story 50,000 square-foot office building for developer Point 32 without Red-Listed products.

To make the cut, every product had to be environmentally sound and proven effective — not just by itself, but also in concert with other building materials. At PROSOCO, we are justifiably proud that FastFlash made the grade.

Installers from Katwall Inc roller-apply Cat 5 Primary Air & Waterproof Barrier over sheathing sealed and prepared with pink Joint & Seam Sealer and red FastFlash, for a continuous, seamless, durable, vapor-permeable barrier to air and water leakage through the building envelope at Seattle’s Bullitt Center. John Stamets photo

So they did it. There it stands, 1501 Madison Street, Seattle, a living building, a done deal.

It wasn’t easy. When Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation president — and one of the founders of Earth Day, in 1970, by the way — first envisioned a building designed from the ground up to be useful and healthy, he found local building codes prohibited much of what was needed.

That might’ve stopped some. Not Denis. He went to the mayor. He worked with the city and the state to change codes. Working together, they created a new regulatory environment — one in which buildings like the Bullitt Center could flourish.

Bullitt Foundation President Denis Hayes addresses media and guests during opening day ceremonies at Seattle’s Bullitt Center April 22. John Young photo

Next step? More buildings like this, in Seattle and elsewhere. Obviously they can’t all be the same design. The Bullitt Center is made for the Seattle climate. In Phoenix, for instance, with many more sunny days, the solar array will be smaller. With fewer rainy days, the rain-collection cisterns will be bigger.

Other cities and states will also have code issues. But they did it in Seattle. They can do it in Kansas City. I believe that one day they will. We will.

On a beautiful April opening day last week, as hundreds of people flocked in for tours, the fully operational Bullitt Center produced twice the energy it needed to run. The distinctive solar array atop the building captured sunlight to produce that energy, in line with the requirements of the Living Building Challenge.

I thought I might hear derogatory comments about the building’s appearance. The “hat” as some call the solar array, makes the building look different from most other buildings, and people don’t always like “different.”

Visitors line up for tours of the Bullitt Center during opening day, April 22. John Young photo

That wasn’t the case in Seattle. I overheard at least one fan waiting in line for a tour giving a rundown on the building’s features — along with energy, the Bullitt Center collects and treats all its own water. Its 26 400-foot-deep geothermal wells will help heat the building during cloudy winters. Its service life is designed for 250 years.

That guy rattled off the features like Mariners’ baseball stats.

To me the building seems iconic. Fifty years after construction of the then-futuristic-looking Space Needle, Seattle’s Bullitt Center also points toward the future — a future of legitimate and quantifiably green construction.

Our industry can do it. They did it in Seattle.

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There’s no app for that

What are the best products and procedures to clean this historic brick? Sorry, there’s no app for that.

Colleen “Coke” Peters in Technical Customer Care got this photo e-mailed to her the other day. Colleen and the other members of PROSOCO’s Technical Customer Care Department get photos like this all the time. This one came from a contractor hired to clean and repair the deteriorated brick in the photo.

The photo came, as they always do, with questions ~ what is that soiling on the brick and how do I get it off?

Now wouldn’t it be great if there was an app for that?

You just hold your smart phone up and take a photo of the wall. The app analyzes the photo and recommends products and procedures. Our head programmer, Steve Singer agreed with me that such an app would be cool. He also said it would be tough to execute.

“You’d have to have some kind of spectrometer in the phone,” he said. “You’d need some way to positively identify both substrate and contaminants.”

The problem, both Colleen and Steve say, is that just because the white stuff looks like efflorescence, that doesn’t mean it is efflorescence. And the black stuff could be carbon staining, but it might also be biological soiling. Or both. Very tough, Steve says, for an app to make those fine distinctions based on an image.

A smart, experienced person, on the other hand, can make those distinctions. A smart, experienced person can recommend easy tests you can use to verify what you’re up against. A smart, experienced person can consult with other smart, experienced people to give you the benefit of multiple minds.

It would be tough for an app to do that, Steve says. Heck, it’s tough for most companies to do that. I’m pretty sure PROSOCO is the only manufacturer of products for cleaning, protecting and maintaining concrete, brick and stone architecture that offers such a high level of professional support.

After consulting with Chemist Chris Moore in the PROSOCO Lab, Colleen offered this advice to the contractor:

Colleen “Coke” Peters, Customer Care Supervisor, takes a break between calls to smile for the camera.

Fred,

Sorry for the delay. You have a job ahead of you.

The black streaks on the brick look to be atmospheric and some biological growth too. I would start with an application of BioKlean. I’ve attached the product data for your review. This should go approx. 100 sq. feet per diluted gallon, be sure to neutralize the surface with Sure Klean Limestone & Masonry Afterwash, diluted 2 parts water to 1 part product.

If this does not remove all the black stains, then I’d use Sure Klean SafRestorer, I’ve attached the product data sheet for this also .

After you have finished repairing the joints, you can use Vana Trol at a dilution of 8 parts water. Make sure to prewet the surface with water and rinse thoroughly.

If they would like to apply a Water Repellent, Sure Klean Weather Seal Siloxane PD is a breathable penetrating water repellent that has a natural look.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Colleen Peters

As if there’s an app for that!

Something else we’re kind of proud about here at PROSOCO — When you call PROSOCO’s toll-free phone number 800-255-4255 — during our regular working hours 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time you will always talk to a real person. You won’t have to press “one” for this or “two” for that at the bidding of a recording.

And since all these people who answer when you call ARE people, and my friends, I’m going to introduce them:

Amy Fick
Candy Monroe
Colleen Peters
Janet Horner
Jennifer Alexander
Judy McCormick
Lucy Klick
Mike Brennan
Phil Harden
Stan Gimlin
Ted Barnekoff

We’re proud of them and the job they do.

And the fact is, there’s just no app for that.

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POWERHOUSE

The Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, Kansas City, Mo.

Photos courtesy JE Dunn

Once housing the power plant for nearby Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., this 1914 Jarvis Hunt-designed building is now the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, and houses the Kansas City Ballet.

It was a powerhouse then.

It’s a powerhouse now.

For nearly 60 years this 1914 Jarvis Hunt-designed coal-fired power plant supplied steam-generated electricity to Union Station, once the second-biggest train station in the U.S.

Now the 60,000 square-foot Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity helps power the Kansas City arts community as home to the Kansas City Ballet and K.C. Ballet School.

Space formerly used for cranes and boilers turned out to be well-suited to the needs of a dance studio.

In between, the powerhouse stood vacant and abandoned for nearly 40 years. It went through an epic restoration 2009-2011 designed by Kansas City, Mo., architectural firm BNIM and executed by general contractor JE Dunn, also headquartered in Kansas City.

In 2012, the project garnered six awards for restoration, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “National Preservation Honor Award.” That’s on top of four previous honors in 2011.

Next year, the power house turns 100.

The job of overseeing the transformation of the interior and exterior masonry from decaying shell to elegant envelope fell to the project’s masonry foreman Pete Johnson.

“To be honest, when I first saw it, I thought ‘we’re going to fix this?’ To me it looked like it should be taken down.”

Union Station Power House facility, front entrance, shortly before restoration begins, 2009.

Mr. Johnson soon changed his mind as he got a closer look at the century-old 22-inch thick masonry walls.

“I have no idea how they accomplished some of the things they did, given the means they had at their disposal back then,” he said. “They built a structure that could stand for a century. And that’s with being abandoned for 40 years.”

Despite the craftsmanship, the masonry fabric still needed serious attention, Mr. Johnson said.

That attention began with tuckpointing the walls, including grinding out the joints three-quarters of an inch deep and pressure-rinsing before installing the mortar.

“We let the mortar set up a day or two,” Mr. Johnson said. “Then we cleaned with (Sure Klean®) 600.”

Though made for new masonry construction, 600 removes excess mortar from tuckpointed historic masonry as well. It also dissolved most of the accumulated contaminants that had darkened the brick.

The cream-colored terra cotta trim also needed work, Mr. Johnson said. The decades had turned it completely black in places, particularly along the bottom edges of the trim.

The terra cotta trim was particularly dirty along its bottom edges.

The likely cause, he said was smoke from trains and furnaces, and the years of neglect.

What was certain was that the first specialized cleaner they tried barely affected the dark coating. But the next one, PROSOCO’s Sure Klean® Restoration Cleaner worked “like magic.”

“We sprayed it on, let it sit for minute or two, scrubbed it a little and rinsed it off. It was like night to day the way that black came off the terra cotta.”

Efflorescence also proved a challenge, Mr. Johnson said, at least until the powerhouse got its new roof. Water from frequent rains falling into the open cavities evaporated out through the brick face, leaving efflorescence’s trademark powdery white deposits.

The efflorescence showed up mostly on the South side and Southwest corner of the building, Mr. Johnson said. The JE Dunn crew spot-cleaned it with Sure Klean® Vana Trol, another PROSOCO new masonry cleaner made for addressing efflorescence and metallic staining as well as removing excess mortar and other common job site contaminants.

Once the roof was on, keeping water out of the walls, the efflorescence stopped showing up, Mr. Johnson said.

The crew began repairs and cleaning on the rectangular building’s long North side, then moved to the West (front entrance) elevation, then to the South and East.

They worked in top-to-bottom drops about 72 feet across, Mr. Johnson said. The cleaning crew followed the repair crew section-by-section all around the building.

Mr. Johnson’s crews applied the 600 to the brick and the Restoration Cleaner to the terra cotta the traditional way — with bucket and brush.

Though the cleaners can be sprayed, Mr. Johnson didn’t want to take any chances with wind-drift because of the building’s historic windows and the proximity of traffic.

JE Dunn cleaned the masonry via the traditional bucket-and-brush method to protect these painstakingly replicated historic wood windows. Note the bottom edges of the terra cotta trim, now free of its black soiling.

Interior masonry walls also needed cleaning and repair, Mr. Johnson said, though the bigger challenge inside, he said, was working with and around the other trades as they hustled to meet their own goals.

“They were pouring new concrete floors, putting in the stairwells and elevator shafts, hanging sheetrock, anything you can imagine, all while we were trying to wash the building.

“Communication was essential,” he said.

A 15-foot tree sprouting from the bricks of the powerhouse’s chimney presented an unusual challenge.

“There were several trees growing up on the roof,” Mr. Johnson said. “But that was the biggest one.”

The tree’s root, about 50-feet long, had wrapped all around the chimney under the brick. Mr. Johnson’s crew got it out, but had to rebuild most of the chimney, which was set to be converted into a skylight.

The cleaned, repaired powerhouse then got an application of Sure Klean® Weather Seal Siloxane PD, pre-diluted water repellent.

The water-based treatment penetrates the microscopic masonry pores and bonds to the substrate, imparting water repellency from beneath the surface.

Because it’s a penetrating treatment, it doesn’t change the appearance or texture of the masonry. Siloxane PD is also “breathable” — it lets moisture evaporate out of the masonry, while blocking penetration of liquid water.

Interior masonry needed cleaning and repair as well, though the bigger challenge was getting it done in concert with other trades.

The JE Dunn crews applied the Siloxane PD with bucket and brush just as they did the cleaners.

By project’s end, the team had removed and replaced 17,500 bricks, 268 pieces of terra cotta, and 158,000 linear feet of mortar joints. They cleaned and sealed 134,000 square feet of brick and terra cotta.*

Mr. Johnson said he found the project more challenging than most of the new construction projects he works on.

“This was literally a dirty job,” Mr. Johnson said. “There was dust everywhere all the time. We went through a lot of trial and error, from deciding on the right masonry cleaners to figuring out the best way to shore up walls for cutting new windows and doors.

“We pulled weeds on the roof. That’s not something masons do every day,” Mr. Johnson said. “But every time I drive past that building and remember what it looked like the day we started, I feel tremendous satisfaction.”
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*Figures from Power: The Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity,” published by BNIM and the Kansas City Ballet

BNIM’s design and JE Dunn’s execution transformed the former powerhouse chimney into a skylight on the catwalk along the building’s second level.

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6 ways to color concrete

Gray concrete floors can be gorgeous, but aren’t the only color choice.

A pearly gray polished concrete floor can be a thing of beauty. But the days of gray-only for concrete floors are long gone. Now, the color choices for concrete are unlimited as dreams and imagination.

Particularly when used with concrete polishing, coloring can provide translucent, almost gem-like effects.

Color offers almost gemlike effects when used with concrete polishing.

 Here are the 6 most common ways to color horizontal concrete.

1. Integral coloring

Colorant added to concrete during mixing produces uniform color throughout the slab.

integral color

The colorant may be liquid or powder. Integral color is for new installations only, and usually only for large monochrome areas, since the main application device is a ready mix truck.  Integral colors are expensive because you are coloring the entire depth of the slab.

2. Shake-on colors

Shake-on color consists of finely-ground pigments and dry cement that is “broadcast” onto freshly placed concrete. The powder gets worked into the concrete during bullfloating.

Shake-on color

Bleed water from the plastic concrete wets the cement powder, causing it and the pigments to bond to the exposed surface. Because the pigments are concentrated in the top layer, grinding and polishing will remove the color.  Since shake-on colors rely on water from freshly placed concrete, they are only suitable for use on freshly placed concrete.

3. Acid Stains

Acid stains are formulas of acid, metallic salts and water. The acid chemically reacts with minerals in the concrete, creating a unique, mottled color effect that’s as durable as the wear zone of the concrete it’s applied to. Acid stains are hazardous materials and require all the safety precautions common to acidic products.

Acid stains

 Concrete floors that have been acid stained must be neutralized and rinsed thoroughly to remove any excess acid.  You must be careful when handling acid stains, also, because spills, sloshes and drips instantly create permanent “features” in the floor. Acid stains can be used for retrofits or new installations.

4. Acetone dyes

The benefits of fast-drying solvent-based dyes are often overshadowed by the risks inherent with using highly flammable reduction solvents.  Acetone – one of the most common reduction solvents, has a flash point of 4 degrees F and an odor and toxicity that makes it impractical to use in most occupied spaces. The color usually is applied after the floor has been polished with a 400-grit resin.

Acetone dye

Though solvent-based dyes can impart vivid colors, they aren’t UV-stable. Sunlight, through a window or skylight can fade the colors. Most require a topical protective treatment to lock the color in.  Respirators and explosion-proof ventilation are required when installing solvent based dyes on new or existing concrete floors.

5.  Water-based dyes

Water-based stains and dyes have several advantages. They are odorless, safe and easy to apply, and dry quickly. Different colors can be easily mixed and matched, creating striking patterns and effects in areas large or small. Combined with hardening, densifying and polishing, water-based stains can create a translucent, gemlike effect. However, water-based stains must be used with protective coatings to lock in the color. Like acetone dyes, they are not UV-stable and will fade in direct sunlight. Water-based dyes can be used for new installations or retrofits. 

Water-based colors were used to create a Navajo Wedding Basket design in the entryway of this elementary school in Monument Valley, Utah. Scot Zimmerman photo

Water-based colors are easily applied with pump-up or airless sprayer, followed by spreading with a microfiber pad. The color usually goes on before the floor has been hardened and densified.

6. Color hardener/densifiers

Color hardener/densifiers are a recent innovation in which fine pigments suspended in water are blended by the applicator with a lithium-silicate hardener/densifier. This lets you harden/densify and color in one step. Apply color hardener/densifiers to concrete floors ground no finer than with a 200-grit resin pad.

UV-stable color hardener/densifiers outside an elementary school in Monument Valley, Utah. Scot Zimmerman photo

The pigments in these products are similar to shake-on colors in that they are  surface treatments, so polishing after application removes the color. Also like shake-on colors, most are UV stable and suitable for exterior application. While a protective treatment to “lock in” the color isn’t needed, strictly speaking, protective treatments are always a good idea for horizontal concrete, inside or out.

Which is right for your project?

The answer is… it depends. If it’s a new installation, any of these products will work. If it’s a refit or restoration, you’re limited to acid-stains, water-based dyes, acetone dyes or colored hardener/densifiers.

If it’s polished concrete and uniform color you’re after, acetone or water-based dyes are your best bet. The difference? For safety and environmental concerns, choose water-based dyes. For slightly more vivid colors, acetone may be the product you want.

For the mottled, antique look without polishing, consider acid-staining.

Shake-ons are best for small, simple jobs, when there’s not going to be any grinding. Since shake-ons are surface treatments, grinding will take the color off. Consider integral color for large areas where you want uniform color.You can grind  these installations aggressively if, for example, you want to expose aggregate.

And though your standard gray concrete isn’t the only color option any more — it can still look pretty good.

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Wipe out!

BRAG ALERT!

One reason I love being in Marketing is that we get to surf the web as part of our jobs.

That’s how we find amazing things like this cool video from Liquid Floor Systems Inc., Charlotte, N.C.

They made this video, on their own, about how our Consolideck SLX100 Water and Oil Repellent protects polished concrete. I can tout the wonderful amazing features and benefits of SLX100 all day long — but this one-minute, seven-second demo video from an independent installer has credibility I can only dream about.

That’s because they’re the guys out there paying the mortgage and putting kids through school with the work they do using products from manufacturers like PROSOCO. And they’re not choosing the products they use based on pretty packaging. They choose products because they perform as promised and do the job clients expect.

If any of the guys at Liquid Floor Systems are reading this, I hope you’ll correct me if I’m wrong.

It’s been my experience that paying clients can be unsympathetic if products fail. So when a contractor of the quality of Liquid Floor Systems — 40 years-plus in the business — not only uses SLX100 Water and Oil Repellent, but takes the time to show it off with a video, well, it not only makes our day, it lets us know we’re on the right track.

I just wanted to let the entire universe know, too.

End brag alert.

Here’s the Wipe Out! song from back in the day, in case the title of this post made you think of it.

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Sustained superior performance

Our co-worker Keith Donner hit the 50-year mark as an employee at PROSOCO, Feb. 25.

Keith Donner

I sent out a brief release about this amazing milestone. It follows at the end of this post. But it was a news release. While it gave the facts, it didn’t have the color or the feeling of what this remarkable man is like.

The following testimonial, penned by our company President David W. Boyer, who has known Keith more than five decades, DOES have that color and feeling.

KEITH DONNER CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
by David W. Boyer

50 years with a single employer is a milestone that very few people will ever achieve.

Keith Donner started his career at the Process Solvent Company on Chelsea Traffic way in Kansas City, Kansas in 1963. I was six-and-a-half years old.

My earliest memory of Keith was on a weekend. Occasionally my older brother Mike and I would ride along with Dad to the office where he would open the mail and deposit any checks that happened to be there before the banks closed on Saturday.

In the old Quonset hut, you’d go through the front door into a small vestibule. It was so small that the only wall – to your right – was just large enough to hang the portrait of AJ that now hangs in our entry hall here in Lawrence.

PROSOCO Headquarters, 1963, Kansas City, Kan.

To your left was a half-wall and a sliding glass window. Behind that glass was the receptionist. In front of you was a glass door that the receptionist would buzz you through to enter the offices.

Once through that door, if you turned right and then right again, that’s where Keith Donner – with a head full of hair – was opening the mail, looking for checks.

PROSOCO’s “Go-To Guy,” Keith Donner, circa 1970.

Keith drove a Volkswagen Beetle – first generation. My grandfather, company founder A.J. Boyer, had told me that Keith used to live in the Ozarks. My dad had said Keith was back from the service. What I remember is that he sure seemed to smile a lot.

I don’t know if that smile came from getting out of the Ozarks or getting out of Viet Nam. I suspect it was a combination of the two.

As a kid I did some odd jobs at Process Solvent. One high school summer I worked in the plant. It was hard work. My grandfather AJ and Uncle Ken were there in the offices also. But, even then, it was clear that Keith Donner was Jerry Boyer’s right hand man.

It wasn’t until I started working for PROSOCO full-time that it dawned on me just how versatile and essential Keith is to this organization.

Down on Parallel Parkway and, later, on Minnesota Avenue, Keith was THE go-to guy for just about everything.

To a new employee Keith seemed to be in charge of purchasing, collections, accounting, human resources, office maintenance, public relations and employee morale.

When the heat went off, you’d find Keith – sleeves rolled up – down in the boiler room. When a secretary — that was in the days before admin assistants — had trouble, Keith would step in to help change ribbons in the typewriters, tapes in the steno machines, toner in the Xerox machine.

Need light bulbs or office supplies? Call Keith.

In the winter, if you were a woman working in downtown Kansas City, Kan., and you needed someone to walk you to your car after sundown, Keith would delay, “goin’ home to play with Mama,” as he is fond of saying, and walk you to your car.

Keith and Janice, spouse of 48 years, have some fun posing as cowpokes during a party for Keith’s 30th anniversary at PROSOCO.

In a bank meeting years ago – up in the old Terrace Club – a frequent visitor referred to Keith as a PROSOCO’s “utility player.”

But as the years went by … as I spent more time in those meetings with Keith – meeting bankers and lawyers and the like – it dawned on me that Keith is more like a “Franchise player.”

People on the other side of the table would look at his smiling face, listen to that Ozark twang and think “this is gonna be a walk in the park.” But that’s always been part of Keith’s magic.

That dawned on me about 25 years ago.

Keith uses that smile, those twinkly eyes and that “beanie weenie” personality — Beanie Weenies are a lunchtime favorite of Keith’s — to put himself in charge of a situation.

Keith, you’ve taught me a lot.

Dedicated, loyal, adaptable, resilient – those are all words that accurately describe Keith Donner. A hard-working, family-man, salt-of-the-earth kind of guy you can build a company around. A guy that will never embarrass you and will always be there when and where you need him to be.

Those are the words that come to MY mind when I think of Keith Donner.

With the five of the seven grandkids (front l to r) – Nate Donner, Adam Donner and Luke Donner. Back, left to right – Hayden Toyne and Kayla Toyne.

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Keith Donner marks 50 years at PROSOCO

Keith and Janice Donner

PROSOCO’s Vice President for Operations Keith Donner marked 50 years of employment with PROSOCO, Feb. 25.

PROSOCO, Lawrence, Kan., is a manufacturer of products for cleaning, protecting and maintaining concrete, brick and stone architecture.

A native of Malvern, Iowa, Donner grew up at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where his family owned a tourist cabin court.

He studied business and accounting at Kansas City, Kansas Community College before joining PROSOCO in 1963.

“I started in the Accounting Department,” Donner said. “But in those days, everyone did everything, so I also loaded trucks, filled containers and did anything else that needed to be done.”

Donner joined the Army Reserve in 1965. He served a year’s active duty in Vietnam as a truck driver with the 842nd Quartermasters, returning to PROSOCO when his military tour of duty ended.

Since joining PROSOCO, Donner has served as purchasing agent and head of accounting. He helped open manufacturing plants and distribution centers in Georgia, New Jersey and Ontario.

Donner also helped PROSOCO develop many of its landmark restoration cleaning formulas, including a poultice powder for removing rust stains.

Restoration cleaning projects he’s proudest of having been involved with include the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station.

Donner has served as PROSOCO’s vice president of operations since the late 1970s. Semi-retired now, he still works several days a week overseeing real estate and tax issues, and serving as a company mentor and historian.

“It’s important to me to have a place to go to work, and to have the friendship of the other employees,” Donner said. “I’d be lost without that.”

Donner lives in Olathe, Kan., with Janice, his wife of 48 years. They have three children, Kimberly, Brian and Aaron, and seven grandchildren.

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Keith Donner and grandson Luke take some time out to relax at Stockton Lake, Mo.

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The Bullitt Center Effect

Seattle’s under-construction Bullitt Center is being built according to the strict environmental guidelines of the Living Building Challenge. A Net-Zero building, it will have little impact on the environment. Its impact on some of the people who built it is a different story. Rendering courtesy of Miller-Hull Partnership.

Kima Yandell, who owns Katwall Inc., Seattle, a full-service metal stud framing and drywall contractor, is no stranger to green construction.

One of her most recent projects is Seattle’s Bullitt Center. The Bullitt Center, as you may already know, is on track to become arguably the world’s greenest and most sustainable office building.

It’s being built to the requirements of the Living Building Challenge 2.0, one of the most stringent of all environmental construction standards. That includes geo-thermal wells punched 400 feet deep to help with winter heating, and an expected 250-year life-span.

That’s compared to 40 years for traditional buildings.

Rain will supply the building’s water, with all waste-water treated onsite.

Its unique overhanging roof, that members of the design and construction team refer to as “the hat,” is a solar panel.

Plans are for the rooftop array to supply 100 percent of the building’s electricity.

Energy needs will be less than traditional buildings because Katwall crews installed a PROSOCO FastFlash air and waterproof barrier on the building’s Glassroc sheathing. Project architect Miller-Hull Partnership specified FastFlash for its ability to hold costly air leakage in and out of the building to better than Passive House levels.

They also chose FastFlash because it contains no ingredients on the Living Building Challenge’s Red List of hazardous materials found in many common construction products, such as phthalates, PVC, cadmium, lead, mercury and more.

Installers from Katwall Inc roller-apply Cat 5 Primary Air & Waterproof Barrier over sheathing sealed prepared with pink Joint & Seam Sealer and red FastFlash, for a continuous, seamless, durable, vapor-permeable barrier to air and water leakage through the building envelope at Seattle’s Bullitt Center. John Stamets photo

Installation of the fluid-applied FastFlash system was easy and fairly routine, Kima said.

From lifts and hanging scaffolds, they sealed joints between the six-story building’s Glassroc panels with pink gun-and spread Joint & Seam Filler. They also used it on screw penetrations.

Red FastFlash, also a gun-and-spread sealant, sealed rough openings, fasteners and other penetrations to help maintain the integrity of the super-insulated Shuco curtain wall system.

They roller-applied tan Cat 5 primary air and waterproof barrier over the full expanse of the Glassroc sheathing. That creates a continuous, seamless yet vapor-permeable barrier to air and water. The system is a good choice for the damp Seattle climate since it’s instantly waterproof and can be applied to damp or dry surfaces.

Cat 5 takes its name from the fact that it’s been tested to withstand Category 5 hurricane conditions. Adhesion tests have shown that substrates fail before the FastFlash system will detach.

But it wasn’t just the products that had to be sustainable and environmentally friendly, Kima said. The plan that she and the rest of the construction team followed also specified sustainable and environmentally friendly construction practices.

“It’s no secret that there’s a lot of waste in construction,” she said. “How many job sites have you seen with huge piles of scrap lumber and other materials waiting to be thrown out?”

Katwall Inc has always tried its best to use materials efficiently, Kima said. On this project however, they took an extra-close look at their practices.

“We found that in the morning, before reaching for a new tube of Joint & Seam Filler, we could squeeze a little more out of the tube we were using at the end of the previous day,” Kima said.

“Or that bucket of Cat 5 that still had a few inches left? It might have a slight skin, but it’s still good under the dried skin.”

It didn’t take long, Kima said, for the habit of more rigorous conservation to take hold. Her crews found themselves engaging in these practices on other projects as well, even where they weren’t specified.

In the year since Katwall Inc began work on the Bullitt Center, Kima said the company has seen an unexpected but welcome 10 to 15 percent savings from the efficient — some might say “miserly” — use of materials.

It’s caught on in every area of her company, she said.

“We don’t make any real money from recycling soda cans or steel-stud scrap and cut-off ends,” Kima said. “We’ve just gotten in the habit.”

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The Year of Living Transparently

Peter Syrett, Chair of the Health Product Declaration Collaborative, announces the launch of the HPD V1.0 from the Greenbuild Expo floor. Dwayne Fuhlhage photo

In this guest post, PROSOCO’s Sustainability and Environment Director Dwayne Fuhlhage offers a look at the state of materials and chemical disclosure and avoidance, and transparency in labeling heading into 2013.

The Year of Living Transparently
by Dwayne Fuhlhage, CHMM; Sustainability and Environment Director

Welcome to 2013! Are you ready for emerging building sustainability trends?

The annual US Green Building Council (USGBC) Greenbuild conference in San Francisco capped off 2012 with a preview of some major trends and memes for this year and beyond:

1. The sustainable building movement is already a prime player in building and community resiliency. USGBC and its partners will be part of the conversation on taking resilience to the next level.

2. What is inside building products matters and the design community will begin scrutinizing content through transparency oriented standards like the Health Product Declaration (HPD). The LEED ratings system will reward transparency and select chemical avoidance by a yet-to-be-finalized mechanism in new Materials and Resources credits in LEED V4 and through new Pilot Credits.

3. Despite rumors to the contrary and aggressive lobbying on the part of some chemical industry players, the LEED ratings system will continue to be a prominent trendsetter in the push towards improved building performance.

As a member of the LEED Indoor Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group (IEQ TAG) and participant in the Health Product Declaration (HPD) pilot project, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the debate on materials and chemical disclosure and avoidance play out in real time over the last year and a half.

Author Dwayne Fuhlhage (right) takes a minute to smile for the camera with fellow volunteer members of the LEED Indoor Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group at Greenbuild.

To say this involves a diverse set of stakeholders is an understatement. The discussions were at times loud and fractious, but we collectively had the same goal of improving communication on the presence of hazardous materials in construction products.

The LEED V4 Materials and Resources credit approach will be settled between now and membership balloting later this year. This credit will be a big deal as LEED V4 is phased in project by project through 2015 and it is currently available in the form of a Pilot Credit. In the meantime, I’m going to let you in on a little secret:

Chemical disclosure and avoidance is already here.

Shortly before Greenbuild, the HPD working group incorporated as a non-profit and became the HPD Collaborative of which PROSOCO is a Founding Sponsor.

We’re in good company with design and specification firms including HDR, PERKINS+WILL, Turner, CANNONDESIGN, boora architects, Gensler, SERA, HOK, and SKANSKA among others.

You can see the list and support the Collaborative at http://www.hpdcollaborative.org/support.

These firms have taken a leadership position that will be emulated by others. Google has claimed this project as one of its own through sponsorship of the HPD Collaborative and a grant of $3 million to the USGBC for policy research on chemicals of concern.

Seriously, if any of these decision makers requests Health Product Declarations as a condition for specification, how will manufacturers react? Will they respond by saying “I don’t want your business”? Some might, but I think they would be outliers. The HPD is set to become the new normal in a relatively short time.

This should not imply that HPD preparation will always be easy. Manufacturers must pick apart every component of every raw material to find out what is inside. Communication through the supply chain is a challenge, with many suppliers having their own intellectual property priorities. Supply chains change and some raw materials have component variability.

Intellectual property is a difficult discussion topic between finished product manufacturers and transparency advocates as well. PROSOCO’s default position will be to increase transparency on chemicals of concern while maintaining key bits of information on functional ingredients as intellectual property in accordance with the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. That sounds like legalistic, weasel wording, but pay close attention to the phrase “chemicals of concern”.

The core list of chemicals of concern comes from Clean Production Action’s GreenScreen tool http://www.cleanproduction.org/Green.php.

From my perspective, prioritizing disclosure of chemicals of concern is the right approach as it gives innovative manufacturers some space to create better technologies without losing their competitive edge.

Beyond that, I think it appropriate for coatings and sealants manufacturers to be able to highlight their efforts to eliminate chemicals of concern. As an example, PROSOCO has systematically eliminated California Proposition 65 chemicals whenever possible over the last fifteen years. This has been a priority in creating the Consolideck® finished concrete flooring product line from the ground up.

Prove it — Rick Fedrizzi, Founder of USGBC, shares his perspectives on proving performance and health characteristics of building products at the USGBC 2012 Opening Plenary at Greenbuild.

The policy behind chemical avoidance priorities is a long way from being settled. The debate will continue and it will likely be contentious.

Some common materials, including crystalline silica and titanium dioxide, are listed as chemicals of concern absent the context of only being toxic by inhalation of fine particles. On the other hand, some technologies only exist because of legacy chemicals that are rapidly falling out of favor. Manufacturers dependent on legacy chemicals are putting up a good fight. Regardless, I think the broad usage of Health Product Declarations will help separate the wheat from the chaff.

There are a lot of “green” products on the market that don’t look so green once we strip off the marketing veneer. As an example, I look forward to our competitors openly divulging the need to use solvents to dilute their products before application. We need a level playing field and building professionals and owners deserve accurate information.

Consolideck® products will be the first in PROSOCO’s lineup to received HPD chemical reviews as designers are most concerned with occupied space. This is in conjunction with PROSOCO’s implementation of an enterprise level software tool, the WERCS, for producing new OSHA Globally Harmonized System (GHS) conformant Safety Data Sheets (SDS).

The GHS regulation requires a total revamp of the former MSDS and professional use product labels by June, 2015. You will see the first batch of SDSs in the near future.

This combined effort would be a challenge for manufacturers of any size and has set a high bar for PROSOCO’s staff in its 75th year. We’re committed to making this work because, frankly, we need to live with our specifying customers.

Additional Reading:
Sustainable Industries on trends for 2013: http://sustainableindustries.com/articles/2013/01/green-building-watch

BuildingGreen on the Google grant: http://www.cleanproduction.org/Green.php

LEEDUser forum on LEED V4: http://www.leeduser.com/blogs/leed-v4-public-comment-forum-leed-takes-new-direction

PROSOCO’s coverage of Greenbuild 2012 on Storify: http://storify.com/John_at_PROSOCO/the-building-envelope-at-greenbuild-2012

About the Author

Dwyane Fuhlhage

Dwayne Fuhlhage is the Sustainability and Environment Director for PROSOCO. He is a member of USGBC’s LEED Indoor Environmental Technical Advisory Group (IEQ TAG) where he serves as the coatings and sealants subject matter expert and participates in the drafting and maintenance of LEED standards. He has been involved in AIM VOC rulemaking activities at the district, state and federal level and is an active member of related ACA and CSPA committees. Dwayne is a member of the greener chemistry oriented NSF/GCI 355 ANSI Joint Committee and a Liaison member of the NSF/UL ANSI Health Based Emissions Standard Joint Committee.

HPD Collaborative leaders facilitate a discussion on “Using Your Own Power to Transform the Materials Ecosystem” during a Greenbuild educational session. Dwayne Fuhlhage photo

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