Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the qualities that I liked, the kind of humble qualities of the concrete. So I
did a lot of research, meeting with sales people and basically doing empir-
ical testing with different types of lightweight aggregates, mainly volcanic
materials, hollow glass spheres, and other things to displace the material.
Then I started to look at it as a composite, using a high percentage of fiber
as a reinforcement, and kept making samples and then using them on lim-
ited projects. At that point, it was just me doing all the mixes and building
the molds, pouring them, finishing them, and installing them. This was in
1983 to 1986.” Eventually he hit on a formula that uses 40 percent recy-
cled products, does not require much energy to manufacture, and results in
a strong, light fiber-reinforced material that can be shaped with wood-
working tools. Called Syndecrete (a registered trademark), it has a longer
service life than wood, brick, or steel when used in construction, and it
offers an alternative to nonrenewable materials such as stone, renewable
resources such as wood, or synthetic solids made from petrochemicals.
When its service life is over, Syndecrete can be crushed and recycled as an
aggregate for new concrete or as fill for road beds.These qualities attracted
the interest of other architects and builders, but what most appealed to
clients was Syndecrete's terrazzo-like appearance.
Hertz's experimentation combined his environmental concerns with his
search for pleasing textures and colors. He found that, rather than use sand
or pebbles as aggregate, he could use a vast array of “the fossils of our land-
fill”—nuts and bolts, golf tees, plastic strawberry baskets, guitar picks, even
polystyrene packaging. When broken up and mixed into Syndecrete, these
familiar objects created striking patterns and textures.
Syndecrete, Hertz quickly discovered, filled a void in the market for
architectural surfacing materials. The fact that it could be customized in
form, color, and texture gave it wide appeal, as did its low environmental
impact and its innate integrity. The Syndecrete furniture Hertz exhibited
drew attention, and word of it was spread by articles and reviews in design
and architecture magazines. Hertz began collaborating with other archi-
tects, some of them quite well known, who wanted to use Syndecrete in
their buildings.
Struggling with the tension between art and commerce, Hertz began
offering Syndecrete as a product on a custom-order basis. He found that
product development afforded Syndesis a creative freedom that the firm
might not otherwise have achieved. “The product idea,” he explains,
“became the thing that would allow us to practice architecture more selec-
