Green Building & LEED Compliance
Concrete Flooring Meets LEED and Green Building Standards
Sustainability is a trend that is becoming more prevalent in the building industry. Many buildings that meet the Net Zero and LEED standards have concrete flooring, and for good reason.
First and Foremost, Concrete is Sustainable
Increasingly, concrete is being recognized for its strong environmental benefits in sustainable development.
- Polished concrete flooring is achieved when natural aggregate and cement is cured, ground and polished into a smooth surface.
- The predominant raw material for the cement in concrete is limestone, the most abundant mineral on earth.
- Life spans for concrete building products can be double or triple those of other common building materials.
- Concrete can be recycled. Most concrete in urban areas is recycled as fill or road base and not placed in landfills. Concrete pieces from demolished structures can also be reused to protect shorelines. Used concrete can also be reused as the aggregates in new concrete.
- A building with exterior concrete walls can be energy-efficient, especially in climates that have daily temperature fluctuations. Even though concrete provides little insulation, it creates thermal mass that can store warmth or cold, reducing indoor temperature fluctuation. White concrete also reflects heat and can mitigate the urban heat island effect.
LEED Certified Concrete Flooring Formulas
The growth in the popularity of sustainable building has driven the decorative concrete industry to develop products that meet LEED and green building standards. Polishing systems and colors give designers and architects more ways to incorporate colorful and artistic elements into their designs while earning LEED credits.
Below are product lines used by Custom Concrete Prep and Polish that are LEED certified.
RetroPlate Concrete Polishing System®
- Odorless
- Non-flammable
- No VOCs, solvents, toxic ingredients
- No VOCs
- No toxic ingredients
- No harmful vapors
- Requires no protective clothing or breathing apparatus
CreteClean Plus with Scar Guard
CreteClean Plus with Scar Guard is designed to clean and maintain concrete floors. It is formulated to clean densified and densified-polished concrete and enhances the floor while it is being cleaned. Unique proprietary ingredients, combined with Scar Guard technology, over time, can improve the performance of your concrete floor.
- Ingredients are biodegradable and non-harmful to the environment.
- Manufactured in an Eco Logo certified facility
- Its high dilution rate means a reduction in energy, transportation, and product use.
Consolideck® LS®
Consolideck® LS® by PROSOCO is a premium concrete sealer, hardener and densifier. The increased surface hardness imparted by Consolideck® LS® eliminates dusting and simplifies maintenance producing a cleaner, healthier environment.
- Safer, faster and easier to apply than conventional sodium or potassium silicate hardeners, Consolideck® LS® will not trigger or contribute to surface ASR (Alkali Silicate Reaction).
- PROSOCO certifies that Consolideck® LS® complies with all known Living Building Challenge, LEED 2009 and LEEDv4 referenced architectural coating and sealant regulations including the CARB 2007 SCM and SCAQMD Rule 1168.
Consolideck® GemTone Stain
Consolideck® GemTone Stain is a penetrating translucent color dye for interior concrete floors.
- Low-odor and safe for occupied areas
- VOC-compliant
- SCS Certified Indoor Air Quality — Gold Level
- No harmful acids, non-toxic and non-corrosive
- Non-Flammable.
- Non-Toxic.
- Non-corrosive.
Arizona Polymer Flooring CASTORCRETE®
CastorCrete® is Urethane Modified Concrete designed for use in the most demanding food and beverage processing areas where high resistance to impact, abrasion and chemical resistance to organic food acids is required. CastorCrete® is formulated with renewable raw materials and contains no VOCs, making it a viable option for environmentally friendly projects. It offers exceptional thermal shock resistance and is available with an anti-microbial additive to inhibit the growth of bacteria and microorganisms.
- Very low odor
- No risk to open food products
The Ashford Formula™
The Ashford Formula is a LEED contributor and environmentally safe.
- The Ashford Formula™ densification system is a water-based product that contains no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), nor does it produce fumes, vapors or off-gassing.
- Its inorganic chemistry penetrates and densifies the concrete, leaving floor surfaces easy to clean, resistant to abrasion and free of dust.
- Application requires no protective clothing or breathing apparatus.
- The Ashford Formula™ has been widely used for points on many LEED projects. The Ashford Formula™ is highly recommended for sustainable building projects not only because of its green qualities but because it spans the lifetime of the concrete and eliminates the need for reapplication.
Did you know . . .
Colorado ranks 1st in the Top 10 States for LEED building. All the states that make up our Top 10 list have done an extraordinary job promoting LEED and making sustainable solutions a priority. USGBC
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