Energy

A natural question: doesn’t it take a lot of energy to make brick? The answer is yes but it takes energy to do a lot of things from running our cars to heating our homes to processing the food on our tables to enjoying leisure activities.  We all make lifestyle choices that involve energy use every day. That’s why choosing brick is a good one. Not only is brick a strong wall or paving material that is maintenance free with warm appeal, the energy used to produce brick compared to it’s life expectancy is lower than most building materials like concrete, glass, steel and aluminum (AIA Environmental Resource Guide-embodied energy). It is also lower in embodied energy than EIFS and fiber cement products according to a recent study by the National Brick Research Center.

Natural gas is the predominant fuel we use to fire our brick as it is the cleanest fuel to burn. We operate with gas on an “interruptible” basis meaning that in times of extreme demand, like very cold periods of the winter, we will shut off our gas usage in order that hospitals and consumers can still get gas.

One of our main corporate and environmental objectives is to continuously monitor and improve our fuel usage and efficiency. We invest every year in capital programs to lower our energy use per brick manufactured. Whether it’s rebuilding kilns, slight alterations to our raw material mix or using alternative fuel sources, we lowered our energy use per brick manufactured over the last ten years by 19%.

Alternative fuels can be both cheaper to use and helpful for the environment. We will use alternative fuels when we can do so cleanly, safely, and within the guidelines of our environmental permits.  Several of our kilns are fired on waste wood that otherwise would require disposal. Wood particulate comes from the forestry and furniture industries and may contain trace amounts of binder or finish material. The ability to burn them completely plays a helpful role in waste disposal. Another fuel we use is waste grease from the food service industry that previously had no re-use alternative. Mixed with wood fuel in a patent pending process, the waste grease enhances the BTU content of the fuel while providing a better alternative than dumping it into a landfill.