2015 Media Coverage

News & Feature Stories about ACH Foam Technologies & the Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Industry

 

Packaging Strategies
December 2015
 
ACH Foam Technologies has relaunched its recyclable, universal wine shippers with a series of packaging improvements.  The new shippers are designed to help wineries, wine distributors, retailers, and consumers package and ship wine for an undamaged arrival.

The new shippers secure up to 12 bottles with an innovative tightening system that minimizes movement during the shipping process.  The improved packaging is now even sturdier thanks to enhanced bottom cushioning and increased wall thickness, to ensure the most secure shipping.  Read More.
Sports Turf Magazine
December 2015
 
More than 6 years since the flood of 2008 destroyed the University of Iowa's Voxman Music Building, the Hawkeye Marching Band is finally enjoying the benefits of the new indoor practice facility.  The new $15 million facility features a full-scale artificial turf practice field that additionally provides much-needed indoor athletic facilities for the University's intramural and club sports.  

Sub-contractor, Jim Seelman of MBA Incorporated seized the opportunity to provide value analysis-based solutions during the pre-construction phase. Seelam was familiar with a variety of architectural grade expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation products that would support the radiant heating system.  Read More.
Utah Design & Construction
November 2015
 
Construction challenges come in all shapes and sizes, and much like the nearly limitless diversity of potential challenges,solutions can be equally unique. For general contractor W.W. Clyde & Co. of Springville, one such challenge and innovative solution recently presented itself on a road and bridge project in Pocatello, Idaho.

One such innovation came in the form of an unusual application of ACH Foam Technologies’ Foam-Control EPS Geofoam.  An engineered lightweight material made of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam with high compressive strengths and predictable material performance, Foam-Control EPS Geofoam is frequently used as a structural-fill on roadway and embankment projects. In the case of the long bridge, W.W. Clyde’s Structures Manager, Rich Lowe, suggested that Geofoam be used to create the form work required to shape the bridge’s three concrete piers. Read More.

Architectural Roofing & Waterproofing
Fall 2015

Commercial office properties have always had to contend for tenants as a part of doing business, but increasingly, existing buildings are facing stiffer competition from new office properties offering integrated amenities packages that go way beyond the lobby coffee shop. As a new generation of employees enters the workforce, employers are challenged to secure leases that provide more than simple office space, instead offering an attractive combination of recreation, retail, and relaxation options that feel more akin to a resort than a workplace. In the case of Prudential Plaza, a 41-story structure in Chicago built in 1955, the challenge for building owners was to offer new value in a building originally designed to respond to a workforce that no longer exists.

The idea of a gorgeous tenant recreation and lounge area would appeal to most, however few outside of the design and construction industry would appreciate the immense challenge of adding this type of space on top of a 60-year-old roof. When Wolff Landscape Architecture was asked to partner with Chicago-based architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz for landscape design, project manager Ishmael Joya quickly understood the complexities of the situation. Joya is a landscape architect with 15 years of experience, specializing in green roof construction.  Read More.

Aqua Magazine
November 2015

When Genco Pools was approached about incorporating a roof deck swimming pool into a parking structure at the Hub at Columbia (Columbia, S.C.), Genco Principal Dan Ball immediately knew outside-the-box thinking would be required.

"Genco has been building pools and water features for both commercial and residential applications for more than 27 years, but this project really pushed us to think differently about pool construction," Ball says.  In the case of the Hub at Columbia, an 850-bed apartment complex that largely serves students at the University of South Carolina, the pool was being added between the top two floors of the existing parking deck. "Because the pool was being built into an existing structure, we were really challenged to think creatively about how to develop the desired shape and depths without adding any more weight than necessary," Ball says.  Read More.

Southeast Idaho Business Journal
October/November 2015

Construction challenges come in all shapes and sizes, and much like the nearly limitless diversity of potential challenges, solutions can be equally unique. For general contractors W.W. Clyde of Springville, Utah, one such challenge and innovative solution recently presented itself on a road and bridge project in Pocatello. For W.W. Clyde, a fourth generation family-owned business focused on heavy civil infrastructure projects, a willingness to confront challenges through innovation has been a hallmark of the firm’s success since 1926.

The project, known as the Cheyenne South Valley Connector, is composed of a mile of new two-lane roadway that when complete, will connect the east and west sides of Pocatello. The project’s main feature is a 430-foot long bridge that will traverse the portneuf river, six sets of active railroad tracks, South 2nd avenue in Pocatello and several local bike and pedestrian paths.

On the construction of the Cheyenne South Valley Connector, innovation came in the form of an unusual application of ACH Foam Technologies’ Foam-Control EPS Geofoam. an engineered lightweight material made of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam with high compressive strengths and predictable material performance.  in the case of the project’s large bridge, W.W. Clyde’s structures manager, Rich Lowe, suggested that the Geofoam be used to create the form work required to shape the bridge’s three concrete piers.  Read More.

Concrete Contractor
October/November 2015

More than six years since the flood of 2008 destroyed the University of Iowa’s Voxman Music Building, the Hawkeye Marching Band is finally enjoying the benefits of a new indoor practice facility. Completed in the fall of 2014 as part of the Tennis and Recreation Complex, the band’s 82,000-square-foot indoor turf practice facility was constructed by General Contractor Russell under the State of Iowa’s first ever designbuild contract. 
 
During the project development phase, the design-build team recognized that a key consideration for the University would be how to mitigate long-term heating and cooling costs for a building roughly the size of a football field for the life of the facility.  Jim Seelman of MBA Incorporated recommended ACH Foam Technologies’ Foam-Control Plus+ as an ideal solution. In part, Seelman’s recommendation centered on the product’s favorable cost compared to XPS alternatives. Seelman estimates that selecting Foam-Control Plus+ saved the project more than $100,000 in material costs alone over the original specified product.  Read More.

Civil + Structural Engineer
May 2015

In Northern California’s San Pablo Bay, about 40 miles inland from San Francisco, construction has been underway to restore the wetlands at Cullinan Ranch. Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are working together to restore more than 1,500 acres of tidal wetlands in the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The site had been diked off from the tides for more than 100 years and was farmed primarily for oat/hay production. Before the tidal waters could be reintroduced, a three-mile stretch of levees along Highway 37 needed to be protected from erosion.

In order to mimic natural transitional zones from wetlands to uplands, the FWS wanted to grade flat slopes from the highway embankment into the new wetlands. “Geofoam was not only the quickest solution for this project but the cost was on par with other options as well” said Russ Lowgren, an engineer with Ducks Unlimited on the project.  Read More.


Utah Design & Construction
May 2015

There are several advantages to using precast concrete. The biggest factors are that it gives the appearance of stone at a much lesser cost and with more flexibility, and it also speeds up the construction process.

“Aside from the cost advantage, precast concrete has the similar benefits as stone with regards to its beauty, durability and permanence,” said Fletcher. “However, it can be fabricated in much larger pieces, which means that erection seems to move quickly once the supporting structure is in place.”  Read More.

Scrap
March/April 2015

Those banning expanded polystyrene say there's little demand for the recycled prodcut.  That's incorrect, recyclers say, and with better education and some investment in infrastructure, business could swell.
 
It was an offer New York couldn’t refuse. That’s what Dart Container Corp. (Mason, Mich.) thought when it said it would cover the setup costs for adding expanded polystyrene to the city’s curbside recycling program. Indianapolisbased Plastic Recycling Inc. agreed to a long-term contract to process the foam and pay the city for it; the city would pick up the foam curbside with other commingled recyclables—eliminating the need for new collection trucks—and its recycling contractor, Sims Municipal Recycling (Brooklyn, N.Y.), would sort the materials.  Read More.