Recycled materials speed project

Use of recycled materials made significant reductions in building time and cost for the new Kimball Equipment facility at 635 E. Nugget Avenue in Sparks.

Mike Clafton, project manager for the 13,063-square-foot facility with 1,028-square-feet of covered storage built by Q&D Construction, used a product called Ultrablock to construct a perimeter retaining wall around the two-acre site. Ultrablock is made from extra concrete recycled from cement trucks when they return to the yard from the field.

The two-ton blocks were needed to raise the site pad, Clafton says. "We got pretty good value using those. I had not done that before, but I thought it would be a novel idea, checked it out and it works."

In addition, the pre-engineered metal building was skinned with energy-efficient foam-filled metal panels with a double tongue-and-groove system. Clafton says the 2.5-inch panels have an R-value of 21. And for roofing, Q&D also used a foam-filled panel system that significantly increased insulation values and reduced construction time.

The panels, which have an R-value of 33, went up in two days, Clafton says. Typical construction calls for metal panels that simply keep weather out, and crews on scaffolding add insulation from underneath once the roofing is laid down. Although the insulated panels cost more, Q&D realized savings through decreased time and labor.

"It is really a well-insulated building for a warehouse," Clafton says. "The whole roof went on in two days, and normally it takes longer and add a week or so on scaffolding."

Clafton noted that all three products could have earned the building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design points through the Green Building Council, but Q&D decided not to go through the certification process on the project.