The latest sustainable projects in all building sectors are incorporating genuine clay brick for its green benefits that also help meet the highest building criteria. Naturally organic with virtually no waste, maintenance-free brick is a growing component of green building design that helps lower energy costs and offers superior durability, moisture control, termite resistance, proven stability and enduring beauty.
Often incorporating recycled content, brick exteriors, interiors and landscaping options can increase sustainability that also helps earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
“As a versatile building material made from abundant natural resources, brick delivers on all fronts,” said Brick Industry Association (BIA) President and CEO Gregg Borchelt, P.E. “Brick’s flexibility and inherent green benefits help builders and architects achieve maximum sustainability and greater value with reduced environmental impact,” he said.
Six of the eight Best in Class winners in this year's Brick in Architecture Awards achieved LEED Gold or Silver certification—including the first LEED Gold certified project in Tennessee, the Methodist Le Bonheur Women's and Children's Pavilion. Winners’ combined reasons for choosing brick include its quality, long-term durability, environmental friendliness, aesthetics, low maintenance, increased seismic safety, thermal mass and design flexibility through color, texture, rhythm, human scale, pattern and repetition. BD+C
Related Stories
| Jul 19, 2012
Rental market pushing service, ‘community’
The Top 25 Giants 300 AEC firms in the Multifamily Sector keep four-legged tenants in mind.
| Jul 19, 2012
AEC firms ready to dive into public projects
But the size of the pool keeps shrinking for the Top 25 AEC firms in the Government Sector.
| Jul 19, 2012
BIM finally starting to pay off for AEC firms
In surveying Giants 300 firms about BIM, we went right for the jugular: Is BIM paying off—through cost savings, higher quality, or client satisfaction? Here’s what they told us.
| Jul 19, 2012
Contractors finally ‘moving off the bottom’
C and CM Agent + PM Giants 300 Firms also taking steps to improve project efficiency.
| Jul 19, 2012
The best states for a construction job
The top anticipated engineering and skilled labor shortages according to a survey of 2,223 construction industry professionals.
| Jul 19, 2012
Suffolk Construction launches subcontractor development series
Professional certificate program to provide core construction management skills to disadvantaged, minority, and women business enterprises.
| Jul 19, 2012
Construction begins on military centers to treat TBI and PTS
First two of several centers to be built in Fort Belvoir, Va. and Camp Lejeune, N.C.
| Jul 18, 2012
U.S. engineering firms set sail for foreign ports
Other E/EA Giants 300 firms are just dipping their toes into foreign waters, still looking for international business but choosing not to establish additional offices.
| Jul 18, 2012
Architecture giants spreading their wings
A/AE Giants 300 rankings reveal firms branching out globally, merging, adding services.
| Jul 18, 2012
Green expert Kats joins GreenWizard as an advisor
Kats' role is to help further expand GreenWizard’s impact in the sustainable construction industry.
