These Green Practices Are Set in Stone

Fabcon, a manufacturer of precast concrete wall panels, is doing its part for the environment. From a product standpoint it produces the VersaCore+Green wall panel, which incorporates up to 58% recycled content. The company points out that their product has the potential for increased LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points and tax credits. And later this year Fabcon will launch a new product with a higher recycled content. Water Sustainability In 2008, Fabcon built a 360,000 gallon storm-water management system at its Minnesota factory to recycle rainfall run-off. The tank captures runoff and cleans out contaminates, allowing the water to be safely discharged into the Minnesota River and to be reused in the manufacturing process. Dust Control GAF, a Minn.-based shingle supplier, historically dumped defective bundles of shingles into local landfills. In 2008, Fabcon approached GAF with an idea. Fabcon could use the defective shingles to help control dust at its Savage, Minn. site. Fabcon figured out that because shingles are half asphalt, it could crush them up and spread them over the entire yard in Savage. As the summer heat hits the yard and trucks roll across the year, the crushed coating becomes almost like blacktop so that Fabcon can control dust by spraying it with the treated run-off. Energy Consumption The company also recently installed motion sensor light controls and monitors to reduce energy consumption in the plant and office. Fabcon has manufacturing plants in Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.