Taylor Concrete Products, Inc. has introduced a major enhancement to its line of concrete blocks and bricks. The company's products now offer both greater strength and significant environmental benefits. Taylor Concrete's concrete masonry units are manufactured to nearly a 50% increase in net area compressive strength over standard ASTM specifications while reducing the amount of Portland cement used by 20% vs. standard units. Significantly the new units are available at no additional cost to the customer.

Concrete masonry has long been known for beauty and long lasting durability. The production of concrete requires Portland cement, which in its production emits large quantities of carbon gases. Taylor has been able to replace 20% of the Portland cement in its products with slag cement, an industrial (pre-consumer) waste product of the steel industry. This was achieved with no loss of product strength. Working with both Cornell and Clarkson Universities, Taylor tested alternative materials, but only slag allowed the company to reduce its carbon foot print while continuing to meet the compressive strength requirement of the FM2000 Assurance of Quality Program by the New York State Concrete Masonry Association (NYSCMA).

Over the past five years, the company's blocks have been manufactured to meet NYSCMA's FM2000 Assurance of Quality Program. Under the FM2000 program, Taylor Concrete's blocks are produced to exceed a net area compressive strength of 2,800 psi, a 47% increase in unit strength above the ASTM C 90 requirement of 1,900 psi. The strengths are verified by a testing program which includes random spot tests carried out by an independent laboratory. The higher strength enables engineers to decrease the amount of reinforcement required and/or design with smaller size masonry units.

The environmental and economic benefits offered by the new block are substantial. When designers utilize the FM2000 program, the wall assemblages can be built using smaller sized masonry units, which will contain less material and less Portland cement than larger sized units, or decreasing the amount of vertical reinforcement required. By utilizing the higher Compressive Strength of Masonry (fm), reinforcement lap-slice lengths can be reduced and greater wall area can be constructed using the same quantity of grout and reinforcement. Reducing the grout and reinforcement provides both material and labor savings. The reduction in grout further reduces the carbon footprint of the project, due to the reduction in the amount of Portland cement required in the grout.

In a case study in which a 100' x 200' warehouse building with 20' high masonry walls was designed using Taylor Concrete's FM2000 slag block, results showed a reduction of 30,000 lbs of carbon emissions and a 10% savings in cost. This was accomplished by reducing approximately 0.8 lbs of Portland cement per block, and using 43 cubic yards less of grout and 4.5 tons less rebar reinforcement in the overall design. An increase in productivity directly correlated to the decreased reinforcement requirement made possible by the use of higher strength block.

Under the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED rating system, Taylor Concrete's slag block can contribute to earning points in LEED credit categories for Recycled Materials, Regional Materials, & Construction Waste Management under Materials & Resources, and under Innovation and Design Process. Additional credits may also be possible under Sustainable Sites and Energy & Atmosphere.

Taylor Concrete is developing an enhanced line of concrete face brick, which by incorporating recycled content and efficient curing, will reduce the embedded carbon content by 40-50% when compared to clay brick.

Taylor places a high priority on energy conservation and efficiency throughout its operations. In 2009 the company reduced the natural gas consumption used in the manufacture of Taylor's masonry units by 40% to 50% with the installation of a new state of the art steam curing system. New energy efficient vehicles have been added, included a lightweight delivery truck and a hybrid powered sales vehicle, which each offered a 25% improvement in fuel mileage. Taylor Concrete is working tirelessly to increase the company's efficiencies in the use of materials and natural resources while continuously enhancing the quality of its products.

For more information on Taylor Concrete Products, Inc., visit: www.taylorconcrete.com