MINNEAPOLIS - March 23, 2010 - VAST Enterprises, LLC announced that it won the "Design for Sustainability" Award from the Plastics Environmental Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. VAST received the honor as part of the 2010 Environmental Stewardship Awards competition. The awards were presented at the Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC) 2010, "Sustainability & Recycling: Raising the Bar in Today's Economy," which took place on March 8-10, 2010 in Orlando, Fla.
"The Design for Sustainability Award recognizes innovative contributions to the betterment of the environment resulting from unique engineering or chemical design with plastics," said P.M. Subramanian, PhD, president, SPM Technologies and GPEC awards chairman. "VAST won because its composite masonry technology addresses a major problem with the disposal of used tires and achieves significant reductions in total energy consumption and carbon footprint compared with traditional, incumbent paver products."
Composite masonry, a new category of green building material, is VAST's patented composite consisting of up to 95 percent recycled automobile tires and plastic containers. "The VAST manufacturing process consumes 82 percent less energy and releases 89 percent less carbon dioxide than concrete product manufacture," said Andy Vander Woude, LEED AP, chief executive officer, VAST Enterprises, LLC. "Our products are cradle-to-cradle green and 100 percent recyclable."
VAST composite masonry products - including landscape pavers, permeable pavers for stormwater management, deck pavers and thin brick - offer an engineered alternative to molded concrete and clay brick. VAST Composite Pavers meet the most demanding requirements for beauty, design versatility, durability, sustainability, and installation efficiency. VAST's composite material imparts rich colors, superior slip resistance and unbeatable strength at one-third the weight of concrete pavers.
The Design for Sustainability Award is the most recent honor for VAST, which recently introduced a new 4x8-inch version of its Composite Landscape Paver. In 2009, VAST won two Tekne Awards, the Cleantech Award and the Innovative Collaboration of the Year Award, from the Minnesota High Tech Association. VAST Composite Pavers were honored with an EcoHome Editors' Choice Award as one of the Top 10 Green Building Products for 2009. And VAST was also selected as the Best Green Exterior Product in the 2009 Environmental Design + Construction Readers' Choice Awards.
About SPE
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) is the premier source of peer-reviewed technical information for plastics professionals. Founded in 1942, SPE takes action every day to help companies in the plastics industry succeed by spreading knowledge, strengthening skills, and promoting plastics. Employing these vital strategies, SPE has helped the plastics industry thrive for over 60 years. SPE has become the recognized medium of communication among scientists, engineers, and technical personnel engaged in the development, conversion, and application of plastics. For more information, please visit www.4spe.org or www.sperecycling.org.
VAST Enterprises, LLC
VAST applies its patented technology to transform recycled materials into a new resource for green building: composite masonry. VAST composite products - including landscape pavers, permeable pavers for stormwater management, deck pavers and thin brick - offer an engineered alternative to molded concrete and clay brick. VAST meets the most demanding requirements for aesthetics, durability, sustainability and installation efficiency. Award-winning VAST pavers deliver rich colors, superior slip resistance and unbeatable strength at one-third the weight of concrete pavers. VAST can contribute to qualification for more LEED credits than any other paver. Today, every 5,000-square foot VAST landscape installation keeps 2,500 scrap automobile tires and 75,000 plastic containers out of U.S. landfills. www.vastpavers.com
Related Stories
| Feb 14, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti names Al Hashimi vice president for its Middle East Operations
Al Hashimi is joining the company to help expand Thornton Tomasetti’s business in the region and support clients locally.
| Feb 2, 2012
Call for Entries: 2012 Building Team Awards. Deadline March 2, 2012
Winning projects will be featured in the May issue of BD+C.
| Feb 1, 2012
Two new research buildings dedicated at the University of South Carolina
The two buildings add 208,000 square feet of collaborative research space to the campus.
| Jan 30, 2012
Hollister Construction Services to renovate 30 Montgomery Street in Jersey City, N.J.
Owner Onyx Equities hires firm to oversee comprehensive upgrades of office building.
| Jan 27, 2012
BRB Architects designs new campus center for Molloy College
Intended to be the centerpiece of the College’s transformation from a commuter college to a 24-hour learning community, the “Public Square” will support student life with spaces such as a café, lounges, study rooms, student club space, a bookstore and an art gallery.
| Jan 19, 2012
LEED puts the 'Gold' in Riverside golden arches
McDonald's restaurant recognized for significant energy savings.
| Jan 15, 2012
Smith Consulting Architects designs Flower Hill Promenade expansion in Del Mar, Calif.
The $22 million expansion includes a 75,000-square-foot, two-story retail/office building and a 397-car parking structure, along with parking and circulation improvements and new landscaping throughout.
| Jan 6, 2012
Summit Design+Build completes Park Place in Illinois
Summit was responsible for the complete gut and renovation of the former auto repair shop which required the partial demolition of the existing building, while maintaining the integrity of the original 100 year-old structure, and significant re-grading and landscaping of the site.
| Jan 4, 2012
HDR to design North America’s first fully digital hospital
Humber River is the first hospital in North America to fully integrate and automate all of its processes; everything is done digitally.