Golden Arches Going Green in Cary, NC
In mid-July, North Carolina’s first green McDonald’s restaurant opened at 1299 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary, NC marking it as only the third of its kind nationwide to be built using eco-friendly materials and technologies. Development of the restaurant began with McDonald’s Owner/Operator Ric Richards who wanted to refurbish the 25-year-old building. As reconstruction options evolved, Richards said the environmental impact became clear: building a structure dedicated to sustainability would mean significant cost savings and reduced energy consumption. “Even though the costs to build this McDonald’s were higher in the near term, we knew that going forward with this green initiative we would set the stage for more savings long-term, both financially and environmentally,” Richards said.
Goodberry’s Creamery in Raleigh Integrates Sustainability Into New Shop
Goodberry's Creamery at Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC has integrated sustainable building practices and materials into its new store design with the help of local Raleigh architects Bret Page and Andy Osterlund.
Goodberry's goal for this store was to educate customers about their frozen custard, which has always been made from just a few natural ingredients. So, using natural building materials in the construction was an easy decision. In one of their first meetings, the Goodberry’s owner showed the team a painting of a dairy farm that hung in their office. The painting had an avant-garde style and highlighted their key ingredients. We wanted to bring that style and those highlights into the store.
Goodberry’s suggested bamboo floors early on, for their rapidly renewable nature and modern aesthetic. The service counter and table tops, where Meld ecoX is installed, also available through CaraGreen, needed to be durable, cleanable, and have a solid, cool, stone feel. Goodberry’s signature custard is their “Concrete” mixed with your choice of topping. Meld concrete was archetypical. They loved the color, the weight, and that it was pre-cast locally with recycled aggregate.
Lighting in the store was carefully considered; electric lighting in the store is efficient, compact fluorescents help to maintain the color of daylight, and LEDs create fun, bright color highlights while using minimal energy. Other sustainable features include the restrooms, which have automatic faucets for convenience and to conserve water. And, Goodberry’s custom-made custard equipment was even modified to be more energy efficient!
This project sets a great example for the future of Cameron Village and for restaurants that would like to integrate more sustainability into their spaces.
Meld EcoX Installed in CaraGreen Founder’s Home
CaraGreen founder, David Spuria, recently installed Meld ecoX countertops in his personal residence. David selected Meld for its modern and natural aesthetic and sustainability profile. Meld ecoX has up to 70% recycled content. And, the color he used, Natural with Tri-blend Glass, uses completely post-consumer recycled glass in shades of green, brown, and clear. To pick up on the brilliant green colored glass, a nearby wall was painted in the same hue. Other eco-friendly elements of David's home include energy star appliances, reflective plywood and foam insulation in the attic and exterior walls, a metal roof, cotton insulation in the interior walls, and 100% recycled 3-form polymer countertops in his laundry room.
Greenbridge Uses Eco-Friendly Countertops From CaraGreen
Greenbridge in Chapel Hill, NC is a mixed-use development seeking LEED Gold certification. It has world-class energy, water, and air quality management, then goes beyond to provide thoughtfully selected sustainable interior materials throughout. The team on this project includes William McDonough, architect, Sitzer Spuria Studios, interior design, Weaver Cooke Wilson, general contracting, and CaraGreen, materials supplier.
We’ll be covering various aspects of Greenbridge’s design over the next few months as the building nears completion. This month, our focus is on countertops. Owners were given the choice of Meld ecoX, Eco-Terr, or granite for kitchen and bathroom tops. EcoX contains 70% recycled glass in a concrete base. Slabs are made locally in Raleigh, NC and everything that goes into them is sourced from within 500 miles of the manufacturing facility. Eco-Terr also contains 70% recycled content, but it is comprised of granite and marble chips, leftover from quarry production, in a cementitious binder. Both ecoX and Eco-Terr are hard, durable surfaces and sustainable alternatives to granite. The use of these high-recycled content materials helps weave Greenbridge's sustainability story together throughout the building and brings it to life for the building's residents.
For samples of ecoX or Eco-Terr, contact us.
Talon Court Project Integrates Sustainable Materials Throughout and Receives LEED Platinum
In Wilmington, NC, Talon Court has become the greenest remodel in the nation by earning LEED Platinum with 113.5 points. To achieve this, every detail of the home, from water and energy conservation, to interior finishes, was carefully considered.
When CaraGreen visited the home, the indoor air quality was obvious and we admired how every surface told a story. Floors are rapidly renewable bamboo strand. Doors are crafted from strips of reclaimed scrap wood. Countertops are locally made concrete. Feature walls are adorned with Kirei board. Torzo Seeta is used for a bar and built-ins. And, the list goes on. Sapona Green Building Center in Wilmington, NC, a retail partner of CaraGreen, provided the majority of the interior materials for the project.
The owner and mastermind behind the project, architect Jay DeChesere, also tells a great story about the home on his website. The residence was the home of his parents, Jean and John DeChesere, from 1986 until recently, when they moved to an independent living facility (they're 95 and 98 yrs old respectively). With the housing market having turned down, they were unable to sell their home. So, Jay, and his wife, Heather Smith, decided to buy the home to relieve them of the stress of selling it.
As an architect focusing on Green Design, and being on the Board of Directors of the Cape Fear Green Building Alliance, Jay envisioned a complete renovation of this home under the USGBC’s LEED for Homes rating system. This is the first project of this category (a gut-rehab) under LEED for Homes in NC and the second in the Southeast region. Jay assembled a design team and an advisory team to lend their expertise to the project. A few of the renovation highlights are the solar panel hot water system, green roof installation, water harvesting tank, geothermal air handling unit, and sustainable materials integrated into the interior design.
Visit to Greenbridge Development in Chapel Hill
Greenbridge development in Chapel Hill is a mere 2 blocks from CaraGreen. I’ve driven by it countless times, heard bits about its McDonough design, and knew materials CaraGreen was providing for the project. But until recently, I’d never toured the buildings, which really brought its remarkable design, both in terms of sustainability and aesthetics, to life for me. Mark Vevle of Greenbridge Developments was kind enough to give me a tour of the site.
Exterior & Green Spaces
We started out on the breezy Rosemary Street courtyard entrance, which will eventually be filled with shops and restaurants. The courtyard is flanked by the two buildings that compose Greenbridge, which are clad with distinctive yellow brick, which was selected because it is manufactured in NC by Cunningham Brick Company and has high-recycled content. The buildings also use high-performing Solarban80 Low-E glass for windows. These materials, as well as steel, concrete, and wood, combine to create a complex and interesting exterior design.
We go up a flight of stairs, and we’re looking out on a lush green paradise, which is the green roof atop the lobby space. Mark tells me that Xero Flor installed the green roof in just a couple of hours. A few of the many benefits of green roofs is that they increase air quality, contribute to more efficient heating and cooling systems, provide safe nesting grounds for birds, and provide relief to the city’s water infrastructure during storms by retaining 35-90% of rainfall. Plants are integrated in other ways as well. For example, there are planters filled with vines that will climb up the building by way of a modern wire grid trellis, and residence balconies are separated by containers of dwarf evergreen trees.
Interior Finishes
We head to the stairwell en route to the residential units. Even the stairwell has a good vibe. It is primarily raw concrete, but there are touches of adventurous orange and forest green paint that provide a hip, outdoorsy feel. Sherwin William’s ProGreen low-VOC paint is used throughout. We stop off on the fourth floor, and there’s signage made out of Bio-glass, a 100% recycled glass and cradle to cradle certified product available through CaraGreen. Metal holders that have been cut with the unit numbers and room names on them cup rectangular pieces of Bio-glass. The Bio-glass practically glows.
We explore a number of units to see the various mixes of finishes and layouts. Owners were given the opportunity to choose from finish packages designed by Sitzer Spuria Studios, the interior designers for Greenbridge. Or, in some cases, owners made their own custom selections. For countertops in kitchens and bathrooms, Meld ecoX and xposed concrete slabs, which are made locally in Raleigh and contain recycled content, or Eco-Terr slabs, which contain recycled stone, are used. For backsplashes, Eco-Gres recycled porcelain mosaic tiles and Oceanside recycled glass tile are used. All cabinetry is made from no added formaldehyde sheet goods and glues. Flooring in the main living areas is either bamboo flooring or Turning House Millworks engineered wood flooring. Carpet, used in the bedrooms, is Shaw’s Anso nylon carpet, which is Cradle to Cradle certified. And, terrace flooring is ECOmax recycled rubber tiles by ECOsurfaces, which contain close to 90% post-consumer recycled content. It seems every finish has been thoughtfully selected.
Energy and Water Efficiency
For lighting, Cree LR6 LED lights are installed, which use just 8 watts, have a 25-year lifespan and are made locally. Greenbridge has a solar thermal hot water system that uses 90 solar panels to heat 4,750 gallons of hot water per day, which significantly reduces carbon emissions and promotes energy independence. There’s also a high-efficiency water sourced heat pump which will save energy and carbon emissions while providing individualized climate control to tenants. The HVAC system is designed to be at least 30% more efficient than standard systems, and there’s a Fresh Air Exchange system, which keeps residential units supplied with clean filtered fresh air. An intake at the top of the building draws fresh air in, passes it through a series of allergen and particulate filters, and then delivers fresh air to each unit at the front door, while old air exits out vents in each bathroom. Dual flush toilets, low-flow water fixtures, and energy efficient appliances have been installed in units as well to further conserve water and energy.
Greenbridge is a trailblazing LEED project in NC, which CaraGreen is proud to supply materials for. For more information on this project, visit the Greenbridge website.
Durham Library Uses Meld to Commemorate History and Pioneer Green Future
Meld is featured in the new Durham South Regional Library for both countertops and flooring. Freelon, the project architect, selected a custom blue shade (#227) of Meld ecoX for the information desk countertops. And, custom Meld floor inserts were crafted to commemorate the hi story of the jobsite, which was the former Lowes Grove School established in the 1890s. To do this, the floor tiles have historical facts embedded in them. Meld ecoX contains 74% recycled content and is made locally, helping contribute to the project’s LEED silver goal. The 25,000 SQFT library has an impressive list of sustainability attributes, which include:
• Designed to be 69% more energy efficient than a comparable baseline building
• Reduced water usage by 44%
• Over 80% of construction waste was recycled
• Landscaped with drought resistant plant species that do not require irrigation
• Use of products such as carpets, paints and adhesives that do not off-gas.
• CO2 monitors to ensure optimum levels of fresh air
• Daylight in over 75% of regularly occupied spaces
• Views to the exterior from over 90% of regularly occupied spaces
Meld concrete is available in either stocked and readily available pre-cast slabs that are 30" x 96" x 1 1/2" or in custom shapes, sizes, colors and glass options tailored to the needs of individual projects, such as the Durham Library. Meld has over a decade of experience designing and engineering concrete products.
Meld Used in Pratt’s First LEED-Gold Certified Higher Education Building in Brooklyn
Pratt Institute recently opened a new six-story, 120,000 square foot, green academic and administrative facility named Myrtle Hall to house the college's Department of Digital Arts. Meld ecoX concrete was a prominent part of the project, as the main staircase and over 1800 square feet of custom concrete floor tiles were used in the facility. Designed by the New York City architecture firm WASA/Studio A, the building is targeted for LEED Gold certification. Major sustainable features include exterior sun shades, a green roof, and solar photo-voltaic panels that generate on-site electricity. It will be the first higher education building project in Brooklyn to receive any LEED certification and the first academic building to receive a LEED-gold certification in Brooklyn.
Meld ecoX was selected for the project for its sustainability profile and Meld’s custom capabilities. EcoX contains up to 75% recycled content, predominantly from recycled glass, which is suspended in a cementious binder. Meld works with architects and designers on custom products to make their ideas a reality. Meld can blend custom colors and aggregates, as well as create custom molds, to make everything from countertops with built-in sinks to sculptures to flooring.
Myrtle Hall will serve as a physical manifestation of Pratt's commitment to sustainable design education. The new building will afford Pratt's Digital Arts program the space and facilities necessary for its faculty and students to continue their cutting-edge design and research including state-of-the-art wired studio/classrooms, a digital resource center, animation labs, a recording studio, graduate studio spaces, and a prominent all-glass gallery in the atrium. Myrtle Hall also contributes to Pratt's ranking as one of the country's most environmentally responsible colleges according to The Princeton Review, which published its Guide to 286 Green Colleges and noted that Pratt's "reputation as a prestigious art school makes it an obvious choice for students interested in green design."
For more information on Meld ecoX or to explore custom Meld projects, contact us.
Meld Makes Builder Magazine’s 50 Most Popular Products List
Builder magazine just released their Readers’ Choice 50 Favorite Products of 2010 and Meld concrete surfaces is number 8 on the list. The list is based on reader service requests and includes a mix of sustainable and conventional products in categories ranging from appliances to solar products. Meld is honored to be on this list among world-class brands like GE and Kohler. Over the last decade, Meld has refined the craft of making con crete surfaces. Meld blends concrete with recycled materials to create artful, sustainable concrete surfaces. Their products have up to 75% recycled content and can help projects achieve LEED accreditation. Meld concrete is available in pre-cast slabs or they can work with architects and designers on custom projects.
To see Builder’s complete list of reader’s choice products, click here. For more information on Meld or to request samples, contact us.
Meld Chosen For Countertops in Insurance Company’s New Buildings
Meld ecoX was recently used in the Farmers Insurance call center in Grand Rapids, MI for countertops in a breakout café space and restrooms. The architect, Rees Masilionis Turley Architecture, based in Kansas City, MO, used Meld ecoX in another Farmers Insurance location in Oklahoma City, which was a LEED project, and liked the look and characteristics of the product so much they decided t o use it in the Grand Rapids location as well. The Meld color is Natural with Tri-Blend glass, which is a mix of green, brown, and clear post-consumer recycled glass which comprises 70% of the product. The countertops were fabricated and installed by Stoneway Marble, Granite, & Tile. Cabinets were custom designed with walnut veneer and the backsplash is a glass tile from Flor Gres called Light Glass, which picks up the glass in the Meld ecoX. For more information on Meld concrete surfaces, contact us.
Comments