Construction of New Charlottesville Scale Office Strives for Environmental Certification

Luck Stone’s commitment to environmental stewardship has been recognized for many years by industry associations and regulatory agencies. A new scale office being built at the Charlottesville quarry will add to that legacy.

“We feel a tremendous responsibility to make the best choices we can for the environment and the communities that we operate in,” said Billy Chenault, a vice president at Luck Stone. “Making use of the most sustainable construction techniques is the right thing for the community, the environment and Luck Stone.”

By using efficient lighting, HVAC systems, and durable construction materials, the scale office will be the first Luck Stone scale office built to EarthCraft specifications, a certification for environmentally sustainable construction.

As Luck Stone builds new structures, like this scale office, or performs maintenance and repairs on older structures, the company will use the most appropriate environmental guidelines.

“This is one of the first, if not the first, certified environmental scale office buildings in the aggregates industry. It represents yet another example of Luck Stone’s leadership both operationally and environmentally,” said Doug Palmore, vice president for Environment, Design and Development at Luck Companies. “We are pursuing positive outcomes that benefit the natural, built and work environments.”

Some of the sustainable features of the building are: A light-colored metal roof, chosen because it reflects heat and is very durable More insulation than is required by code High-efficiency lighting design that doesn’t use any incandescent fixtures Point-of-use water heating Native plantings in the landscaping

The building and site design use two Luck Stone products that directly contributes to the construction’s sustainability.

The quarry’s aggregate is used in the floor, which is a polished concrete. By using a local stone, the distance that building material traveled was kept to an absolute minimum. Also the very durable polished concrete will not require any additional flooring material, like tiles, carpet or linoleum. In the future, that means worn-out flooring material won’t need to be replaced, or hauled to a landfill.

BioFilterTM, another Luck Stone product, lines the bottom of a bio-retention pond in front of the scale office. Rainwater from the roof and parking lot will be directed to the pond, where the Luck Stone product filters the water before it re-enters the water table.