Green building has always been a trend to achieve the design you want and to be sustainable as well. Green building projects also provide a healthier indoor environment and enhances durability with lower operating and maintenance costs. When working on a project, facility managers are tasked with selecting flooring materials that are appealing, easy to maintain, and will last for years. To meet your GBCA-projects goals, we suggest having recycled glass terrazzo tiles.
Use of Recycled Glass Terrazzo is Emerging
Over the centuries, marble chips have been utilized and linked when you talk about terrazzo floors. Simply because of its origin back in the 15th century, when Venetian construction workers would reuse scrap materials to build inexpensive flooring in their living quarters. Today, most installations are epoxy terrazzo which allows greater design flexibility when planning out a terrazzo floor. When you want your flooring system to be cost-effective, having recycled glass as your aggregates for your terrazzo tiles will not only attract random people’s attention because of its appearance, but also of professionals who understand its GBCA contribution.
The use of recycled glass as the main component of a terrazzo floor has become more common in today’s era of green building. You will have a non hazardous, odor-free, non-flammable, and non carcinogenic terrazzo system when you combine epoxy resins that are low VOC with recycled glass aggregates. This does not only impact the finish product, but also the health of the construction workers due to the silica dust from marble chips. Glass dust is classified as amorphous silica, which poses lower health risks compared to crystalline silica found in marble dust, which can lead to silicosis and other respiratory diseases.
Benefits for Architects and Building Owners
Aside from its appearance, glass chips are a budget-friendly material for your terrazzo floor design. Architects are recognized when using environmentally-friendly materials, which they can add into their portfolio and partner up with companies who promote sustainability.
Terrazzo Australian Marble encourages architects and building owners the use of glass chips in epoxy terrazzo installations to earn Green Star from GBCA. Once installed a recycled glass terrazzo system is designed to last the lifetime of a building. This will be a great investment for building owners as the floor can last up to 40+ years, with low maintenance and replacement cost.
Terrazzo makes sense to use in today’s green building projects because of its lifecycle costs with unlimited customization, options are simply unbeatable. Overall, this can help general contractors and architects save on project costs and reduce project timelines. If you want to learn more about our different recycled glass terrazzo design you may contact us.