Greenblock Worldwide Corporation announced today that its Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) wall system. For it was selected by 7-Eleven, Inc.. That’s for the exterior walls of their first “green” convenience store. I mean as defined by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. So paperwork has been submitted to the USGBC. That’s to request LEED certification.
All for the new store located in DeLand, Florida. It’s just north of Orlando. I absolutely Love to hear that one of the stores near me for go green. Again, I think that’s the coolest thing.
Let’s Green 7-Eleven
The 3000+ square-foot store, featuring Greenblock’s 6-inch core ICF. For it is a new design and construction concept for 7-Eleven. It will serve as a prototype facility. All to determine if other stores will be built to similar green standards. You know they are serious when they make a prototype store. For me that’s when things get real and cool.
LEED to Greenblock to 7-Eleven
Pauls, a LEED-accredited professional, took the lead for 7-Eleven’s green-building program in Florida. With early involvement from Greenblock southeastern regional manager John Riddle, also a LEED-accredited professional, the design transition from commonly used CMU to high-performance Greenblock ICF walls, was easily achieved.
“After some preliminary discussions with Jonathon at US Green Building Council meetings, we began refining concepts and eventually settled on moving forward with a Greenblock wall system for the store,” said Riddle. “A high-performance building envelope made sense for what 7-Eleven was trying to accomplish with this new prototype. It eventually became a key design strategy for the project.”
Insulated Walls
“An additional consideration during the design process was the fact that Greenblock could provide 7-Eleven with a turnkey building envelope solution by brining in our sister company, Insulated Concrete Walls Inc (ICW), to perform the ICF installation,” continued Riddle.
Designed by Burke Hogue Mills and TLC Engineering for Architecture of Orlando. For the store’s architectural features that are evident to customers include a 24-foot facades. One that’s arched entryway. In addition a standing-seam roof. Moreover trellised outdoor eating area. Also interior skylights and Florida ambiance. With its brick and sand-colored stucco exterior with brown and green accents. For the store looks earth-friendly. However, many features not immediately evident to a customer. All are what differentiate this store environmentally. For it will enhance the indoor environmental qualities.
Strong Exterior Walls
Greenblock ICFs are assembled to form the exterior walls of the structure. In addition, and then filled with steel reinforcing bars and concrete. The EPS foam forms stay in place to provide exceptional insulating qualities including a consistent R-24 over the life of the product. When combined with the thermal mass effects of concrete and the lack of air infiltration through an ICF wall. Then it is a much higher “performance R-Value” is realized. All which reduces heating and cooling bills by as much as 50-70 percent. To me that’s to coolest part and I don’t mean temperature.
Additionally, some of the measures taken to reduce energy costs serve another important purpose—hurricane protection. The Greenblock 6-inch-thick concrete core walls not only insulate the store’s interior from temperature extremes, they also can withstand 120+MPH winds, a requirement for buildings in hurricane-prone areas.
Expansion in Orlando area
“7-Eleven has outlined an aggressive expansion plan for the Orlando area over the next three years,” said Jeff Alexander, president of Greenblock. “We’re hopeful that as the energy modeling for this project is confirmed over the next several months, they’ll once again choose our ICF walls for their new stores.”
A note about the USGBC (www.usgbc.org) LEED certification for this project: To earn the third-party LEED certification, new structures must gain credits to satisfy specific green building criteria in the areas of sustainable sites. Also water efficiency, energy and atmosphere. Finally, materials and resources. Moreover indoor environmental design and design innovation.
For this store incorporates a number of features and modifications. All that help qualify it for LEED consideration. Specifically, as it relates to its Greenblock ICF walls. Also credits were applied in the Energy and Atmosphere. Finally. Materials and Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality categories.
Source: Greenbiz
