Millenia Wall Solutions Advances an Earth-Friendly Alternative for Retaining Wall Materials and Construction
Millenia Cuts the Environmental Impact of Retaining Walls in Half
MINNEAPOLIS and NEW ORLEANS - May 12, 2008 - Today at the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB) National Green Building Conference, underway
at the Sheraton New Orleans in New Orleans, La., Millenia Wall Solutions (booth
G608) is showcasing its high-tech, eco-friendly retaining wall system. Compared
to concrete segmental retaining wall (SRW) blocks, Millenia wall units reduce the overall environmental impact
of retaining walls by 55 percent.
"We use 100 percent recycled, pre-consumer polymeric resin materials in all our
Millenia wall products," said Paul Forsberg, president, Millenia Wall Solutions.
"These materials are inert and do not interact with the soil, and our products themselves
are recyclable. In addition, because they are lightweight, it takes far less energy
to transport Millenia wall units."
An independent Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Millenia products concluded that when used instead
of concrete blocks, Millenia polymer wall units provide a 55 percent reduction in
overall environmental impact, including a 65 percent reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions. Based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green
Building Rating System, developed by the
U.S. Green Building Council, using Millenia walls units in construction
applications can earn up to eight LEED credit points in at least two categories:
Sustainable Sites and Material & Resources.
According to McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics, the value of green building construction
starts will grow to $60 billion by 2010. Green homebuilding is projected to account
for one-third of that total. With ever greater environmental awareness, more and
more real estate developers and homebuilders, landscape architects and contractors,
and homeowners support green and sustainable building practices. Millenia Wall Solutions
offers them an earth-friendly alternative for retaining walls.
Approximately 500 million concrete blocks are sold annually for segmental retaining
walls (SRWs) in North America. Cement is the core ingredient in concrete. The production
of cement is energy-intensive and releases vast amounts of carbon dioxide, the primary
cause global warming. In fact, the world's cement plants generate five percent of
all global emissions of carbon dioxide. As reported in the New York Times, cement manufacturers are investing
in cleaner production processes, but the greenest technologies can only reduce cement
plants' greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 percent. Even with the best possible
improvements, each ton of cement produced in 2010 will still generate more than
600 pounds of carbon dioxide.
Worldwide demand for cement and concrete products continues to rise, particularly
in fast-growing emerging economies. Thus, to contend with climate change, it is
imperative to develop and adopt green alternatives. The Millenia retaining wall system is the earth-smart solution
for retaining walls.
About Millenia Wall Solutions
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., Millenia Wall Solutions
(www.milleniawalls.com)
is setting the 21st century standard for the construction of segmental
retaining walls by advancing the most significant innovation in the industry since
the 1980s. Lead by industry experts Paul Forsberg and Robert J. Race, Millenia is
introducing an inventive, high-tech alternative to concrete blocks. Millenia is
a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, and our retaining walls are eco-friendly
and offer incomparable beauty, strength, stability and durability - achieved
with lightweight, recycled polymeric resin materials that contractors can install
easily, quickly and with less labor. The weight is over. Ready to build intelligently?
Check out the Millenia Project Video and then call us at 1.866.549.WALLS (9255).
Note to Editors: High-resolution illustrations of Millenia's
technology and images of walls completed with the Millenia Wall Solutions system
are available to members of the media upon request. Paul Forsberg and Robert J.
Race, P.E. are available for interviews.
MEDIA CONTACT
David Aquilina
T: 612 922 5551
E: news@milleniawalls.com