As part of Arto’s Green Initiative we are working to provide products that help our customers meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Along with making all of our products from regionally sourced materials, we are proud to announce that three of our more popular colors have passed tests for the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI).
Samples of our pieces in the colors Hacienda and Early Gray were sent to Atlas Material Testing Solutions in Phoenix, AZ along with one of our darker colors, Cotto Gold. We were fairly confident the first two colors would pass easily, but to our surprise so did our Cotto Gold piece. Since this is a very popular color we are very excited to be able to provide specifiers with the option to apply for LEED points by using our product to reduce the heat island effect.
By using tiles like our California Paver and Roman Tile and Paver lines on roofs and hardscapes, builders can earn LEED points for their projects, reduce the heat island effect, and help save energy through lower cooling cost in urban areas. The heat island effect plagues urban areas where lack of vegetation and shade drastically increase temperatures. The unshaded concrete and asphalt absorbs heat overtime and release it slowly sometimes resulting in temperatures more than 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding areas. SRI rated products reflect solar rays away from urban landscapes, preventing heat absorption.
California Pavers & Roman Tile can be adhered to a substrate and Roman Pavers can be adhered, put on a pedestal or set on a sand base.
On roof decks 90% will be pedestal or sand set. On ground level decks it can be all three types of the installation.
Arto was quite pleased with the quick and helpful service provided by Atlas and already has plans to test more of our 30+ different colors
to determine their SRI qualities. The result of our recent test and more information can be found at www.artobrick.com.