At Stephens and Smith Construction, we are committed to protecting and conserving our precious environmental resources, not only for us today but also for our future generations. Therefore, we provide numerous product alternatives for "Green Building" that allow our building partners to design and create projects utilizing both energy conservation and environmental stewardship.
We have worked in conjunction with our concrete ready mixed supplier's research and development laboratory to develop a unique concrete mix design that we proudly refer to as an "Environmentally Friendly Green Concrete". This concrete mix utilizes waste by products from energy generating facilities with the end result being a high performance concrete that is both cost effective and superior to plain concrete.
We offer products such as Form-a-Drain for our foundation drainage system. This product is made from recycled vinyl waste that would ultimately end up in our landfills.
We also offer energy efficient forming and insulation systems such as Reward Wall Systems and Fox Blocks. Both of these products are insulated concrete forms (ICF's) which afford our building partners the opportunity to design both residential and commercial projects that offer energy efficiency cost savings along with the safety of a reinforced concrete structure.
If our building partners desire a traditional concrete appearance in their design, but they want to utilize the energy efficiencies associated with concrete mass, we are able to integrate insulating systems into their projects with such products as Thermomass and ThermaEZE. The Thermomass product is a "sandwich insulation system" that places the insulation in the center of the reinforced concrete wall. On the other hand, ThermaEZE casts the insulation to the inside surface of the concrete wall. Both of these systems are equally efficient in both below grade and above grade applications.
Also, to help alleviate the pollution of our streams and rivers from water runoff, we at Stephen and Smith Construction are licensed and trained to install pervious concrete in parking lot and slab construction. Pervious concrete protects our ground water as well as surface water from pollutants. Pervious concrete allows water to get to trees and plants while reducing the heat island effect caused by other paving materials.
Stephens and Smith Construction also offers a full line of decorative concrete options that enhance the environmentally friendly sustainable properties of concrete. The decorative concrete options provided by Stephens and Smith Construction include pattern stamping, staining, microtopping, and polishing. The decorative concrete process results in a long lasting, low maintenance flooring system that in most cases does not require the use of solvents or volatile organic compounds in its maintenance. What this means for the environment is that with any of these decorative concrete options, there is not a requirement for using additional short lived floor coverings like carpet, tile, and vinyl that ultimately will end up in the land fill. Additionally, decorative concrete systems do not hold dust or allergens thus creating a healthier indoor living and working environment for its owner.
Another environmentally friendly system that Stephens and Smith Construction has experience placing and is licensed for its installation is Maxxon Underlayments and Sound Mats. Like many of the processes employed by Stephens and Smith Construction these Maxxon products have been formulated to contribute to the earning of points for LEED accredited projects. Maxxon's underlayments are Greenguard Certified because of the products recycled content and the extremely low VOC emissions.
These systems allow design professionals and builders who are interested in gaining LEED points for their projects, to gain these points while also utilizing the product's inherent properties of sound control, fire ratings, and floor leveling. These systems are the perfect product for usage on existing or new commercial and residential projects.
Siplast Insulated Concrete Roof Decks are another environmentally friendly system offered by Stephens and Smith Construction. This system involves installing an insulation board sandwiched between insulated concrete on a roof structure. This process results in a highly sustainable roof system, which has the ability to be re-roofed without requiring the insulation to be replaced. This energy efficient system ultimately eliminates a vast amount of material that will be deposited in our landfills.
