Quad-Lock Embraces Webinar Technology
|
We are excited to announce that beginning in January 2009, Quad-Lock
Building Systems will be launching live, online public webinars. The
first webinars are scheduled for January 8th and January 22nd at 6:00pm
EST. "Introduction to Insulating Concrete Forms and Quad-Lock"
hosted by DJ Ketelhut, Director of Sales, Eastern North America, these
will help potential customers understand the benefits of building with
insulating concrete forms and specific advantages of Quad-Lock ICF over
other building methods.
"Introduction to Insulating Concrete Forms and Quad-Lock" will
help you gain:
- A basic understanding of Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF)
- Insight into the Quad-Lock difference
- An understanding of the types of structures you can build with
ICF
- Knowledge to make a more informed buying decision
To use this technology on a regularly scheduled basis allows us to
give interested customers the opportunity to engage Quad-Lock in a
personal, but non-threatening venue. The webinars are designed to be
informative and educational. Today, everybody is watching their costs
and as a business, this is a great way to cost-effectively reach out and
make initial contact with people interested in ICF construction.
If you are unfamiliar with webinar technology, don't be afraid! It is
very easy to use, there is no special software or cumbersome downloads
to endure. If you have a computer with an internet connection along with
either computer speakers or a regular telephone, you can join very
easily. All of our webinars will feature a Quad-Lock host who will go
through an interactive presentation that you will view on your own
computer and your audio will be broadcast either through your computer
speakers or your telephone.
The long-term plan is to host "Introduction to Insulating Concrete
Forms and Quad-Lock" every two weeks with other topics and
presenters being added throughout the year. Please
check our website for webinar dates
and times and to sign up for one of these exciting events.
Greenbuild 2008 A Huge Success
|
It just keeps getting bigger...
Greenbuild
started in 2002 in Austin, Texas with around 4,000 attendees. Within 6
years, the growth in the numbers is staggering:
- 28,224 registered attendees
- From all 50 states
- From 85 countries
- From 6 continents
- 25% increase over Greenbuild 2007
- 807 exhibitors; 145,000 sqft of exhibit space
Can Quad-Lock foam and tie scrap be recycled? This is a question that
is asked of us more and more and we are glad to hear it!
North America is recycling about 12% EPS waste. Not very good when
you consider that the UK recycles 40% and Europe 70% of their EPS waste.
Scrap foam, tie material, tie boxes and panel bags can be recycled in
a number of different ways, here are some suggestions on how you can
lighten your landfill load...
The best use for EPS is insulation! So why not keep using scrap foam
on the site as insulation? How about under a slab-on-grade or a heated
slab? Why not use leftover EPS to insulate and protect water supply
lines as they approach the building or go under driveways? All Quad-Lock
panels are dense enough for these purposes. At this point, you probably
have no EPS to take off the site at all.
If EPS must be taken off the site, it can go to any community
recycling program that accepts recycling category #6 (tie scrap is HDPE
#2 and panel bags are LDPE #4). Of course, every community recycle
program accepts cardboard (tie boxes).
Since 1991, the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers (AFPR) has been
working to facilitate EPS recycling (of which we are a member and sit on
the Board of Directors). Most of the 200+ member firms in 40 US states
and Canadian provinces will accept post-consumer packaging and
insulation products for recycling. A
link to the list of AFPR members
can be found there. Find an AFPR facility near you and call them first to
see how their recycling program works. If there isn't a convenient AFPR
member near you, call any local EPS manufacturer and they very likely
have recycling capacity.
Like food packaging, EPS must be clean to be recycled. Recyclers
won't accept a cardboard pizza box with cheese all over it, or likewise,
EPS with mud and concrete all over it. Collect unusable off-cuts in a
panel bag before they get trampled into the mud, then both the EPS and
the bag can be recycled.
Call the Training and Technical Services department with questions or
other helpful ways you've found to recycle. For
other links about recycling, see our website.
Douglas Bennion
Manager, Training & Technical Services
As ICF becomes a more prevalent building system, North American
dealers and installers of Quad-Lock ICF need to extend their knowledge
of building techniques to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA). In order to prepare for the upcoming inspection
and enforcement by OSHA, this and future articles will discuss various
compliance issues facing the ICF industry.
Safety Around the Jobsite...
Concrete placement brings a new set of safety issues for the ICF crew
as they strive to deliver a finished project. The crew must be fully
trained in safety procedures before the concrete placement
starts. Once the concrete begins to flow and the crew hurries to
complete the project and solve any problems associated with the
placement, thoughts of "safety" usually slip away. Here are some items
to review and double-check BEFORE the concrete is even ordered:
1) Verify the attachment of the wall bracing system's use of the
correct size and type of screw. Every scaffold system has a fastener
specified as part of its safety approval. As the equipment owner, you
are responsible for proper and safe use of the system. Be sure to verify
the steel spikes attaching the turnbuckle units are well placed and
tight before your crew climbs aboard with a concrete pump running
nearby. You never know if or when something has occurred to loosen the
spike which would allow the system to move.
2) Taking a cue from a previous article on electrical equipment, has
the ground fault interrupter been placed on the electrical cord that
will power the vibrator?
3) Also from a previous article, has the safety railing around the
scaffold been checked and reviewed for sturdy attachment, including
floor planks that do not move or flop up and down?
Crew members must have the appropriate safety equipment for concrete
placement:
1) With concrete boom overhead and crew members on the ground, hard
hats are necessary. It is common for concrete to splatter onto ground
support personnel which can deliver a staggering impact. Concrete weighs
about 145lbs per cubic foot and can result in an injury when it drops
onto one's head or body!
2) Protective eyewear is necessary for all crew members to protect
from splatters of cement, contaminated water from hoses or tools being
used at the site. For crew members having contact with the pump hose or
concrete vibrator, it is especially important to provide wrap-around
eyewear. The OSHA-required first aid kit for each crew must have a
minimum of one eye wash-out kit per 5 employees or access to clean
flowing water for eye wash purposes.
3) The crew member at the end of the concrete pump line filling the
walls should wear a long-sleeved shirt, protective gloves and other
coverings as necessary to eliminate extended skin contact with cement
products. Lime used in cement manufacturing can cause extensive skin
damage, buring the exposed surface and resulting in extensive days off
or workmen's compensation claims.
4) Safety rails and harness equipment are required for the crew
member directing the concrete pump line. The jerky movement, resetting
the pump line around the building or not paying attention to the walk
surface during concrete placement can easily lead to slip-and-fall
injuries. It would indeed be unfortunate (and expensive) if the pump
line movement pushed the crew member off the scaffolding resulting in an
injury.
So, as Red Green would say, "If the inspector doesn't find you
handsome, he'll at least find you... SAFE!" Don't get hurt out there!!
Future ideas on tool safety, ladders and scaffold
placement, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and concrete placement
will follow in upcoming months. If you have any topics that you would
like to see covered, please
contact us.
Proven Energy Efficiencies
 As part of our on-going development of materials to assist in the
sale of Quad-Lock, we want to create a library of statistics about
structures built with Quad-Lock Insulating Concrete Forms. You can help
us by submitting your energy bills, along with the bills from a
comparable house in your neighborhood for us to add to our library. When
you do this Quad-Lock will pay your highest month's energy bill for your
troubles.
Contact us for more information.
|
Insulated, poured-in-place walls