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Concrete piers:
Making post-frame buildings greener
By David R. Bohnhoff, Ph.D., P.E.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
more confidence in the long-term durability of a concrete foundation than they
do in a preservative-treated wood foundation. This is largely due to the poor performance of many solid-sawn posts that
were not adequately preservative-treated
for ground contact. It is important to note
that to date, I am unaware of any documented failures of mechanically-laminated wood posts that have been properly
CCA-treated for ground contact.
2. Reduced availability and/or higher cost of CCA-treated lumber. CCA is
composed of the oxides of chromium,
copper, and arsenic. Stating that arsenic
is a known human carcinogen and that it
is in the publics best interest to reduce
levels of potential exposure to arsenic,
the Environmental Protection Agency
banned manufacturers from treating
wood with CCA for most residential uses
effective December 31, 2003 (EPA, 2005).
While posts for agricultural and commercial buildings can still be CCA-treated, the partial ban on CCA significantly
reduces the amount of wood that is
CCA-treated, making it more difficult
and expensive to obtain.
3. Corrosiveness of CCA alternatives. Alternative treatments to CCA
include Alkaline Copper Quat and
Copper Azole. Like CCA, these alternative treatments rely on copper toxicity for
effective protection from decay organisms. Unlike CCA, they are not time-tested and tend to leach more copper
(Lebow, 2004; Townsend et al., 2003).
The greater availability of dissolved copper in these alternative treatments results
in increased galvanic corrosion when
metals less noble than copper (e.g., magnesium, zinc, iron, steel, aluminum) are
driven into or brought into direct surface
contact with the treated wood.
4. Reduced use of preservativetreated lumber. Where possible, engineers try to eliminate preservative-treated lumber because it costs more than
non-treated lumber, it generally requires
use of more expensive, less-corrosive
fasteners, and preservative wood treatments are pesticides which can make
eventual disposal of preservative-treated
wood problematic (Wilson, 1997). The
cost of preservative treatment alone will
drive engineers to use posts featuring
treated wood spliced to untreated wood
in an effort to save money for posts not
requiring above ground treatment. Use
of concrete piers in this situation eliminates the treated wood altogether, as
well as the additional assembly costs
associated with joining treated to
untreated dimension lumber.
5. Lumber length. Lumber becomes
increasingly expensive (on a board foot
basis) in longer lengths. Additionally,
dimension lumber is not readily available in lengths longer than 20 feet.
When concrete piers are used, the over-
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FIGURE 3
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FIGURE 4
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TABLE 1: CONCRETE COST PER FOOT OF TUBE
FIGURE 5
Tube
diameter
(inches)
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
36
60
Tube volume
(cubic yards
per foot)
.013
.029
.052
.081
.116
.158
.207
.262
.90
2.04
3.62
5.66
8.14
11.09
14.48
18.33
1.03
2.33
4.14
6.46
9.31
12.67
16.55
20.94
1.16
2.62
4.65
7.27
10.47
14.25
18.62
23.56
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7
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FIGURE 8
1. Concrete quality. Precasting is almost always done in a
dedicated batching plant where it is easier to control concrete
ingredients and the conditions under which the ingredients are
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Conclusions
Although concrete piers may be more
expensive than embedded wood post
foundations, they have advantages over
their embedded wood counterparts, and
these advantages become increasingly
important with time. Based on total cost,
construction flexibility, structural integrity, and component reuse, a concrete pier
foundation system with an isolated concrete slab would appear to be a better
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conducting an LCA of a building is a daunting task given the fact that an LCA on a single component involves a tremendous
amount of data collection and generally,
numerous assumptions. The complexity of an
LCA becomes apparent when one realizes
that an LCA must be conducted on each
piece of equipment, material, storage/manufacturing facility involved in the entire process
from initial tree planting, to eventual lumber disposal. Each LCA requires calculation of
numerous environmental impacts (natural
resource consumption, energy sources, gas
emissions, liquid/solid waste streams) and
decisions regarding the relative environmental
costs of each impact.
LCAs aside, I believe that among useful
structures, you wont find a building system
that is greener than the typical post-frame
building. Youll come to this conclusion by
simply looking at the square foot cost per
useful life of the structure, and the type of
materials used in the structure. Square foot
cost per useful life is a number that simulta-
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Index of Advertisers
ABC ..........................................13
AJ Manufacturing ....................15
AmeriLux International ............49
Anco Products..........................62
Bigfoot Systems ......................61
Caldwell Group, The ................53
CannonBall:HNP ......................12
Central States Manufacturing ..25
Classic Equine Equip. ..............63
Concrete Pier Systems ............58
Dyna-Products..........................66
Dynamic Fastener ....................67
Energy Panel Structures ..........47
Everlast Roofing ........................9
Fabral ......................................68
Fostoria Industries....................66
Hi-Fold Doors ..........................64
Hoover Treated Wood Prod. ....17
Hydroswing Door Systems ......54
Ideal Building Fasteners ..........39
Innovative Energy ....................64
Installed Sales Technologies ....66
Insulation Solutions ..................55
Klauer Manufacturing ..............31
Leland Industries......................37
Liberty Building Systems..........27
Marion Manufacturing ..............66
MFM Building Products ............19
Moderra/Alliance Concrete ......51
MWI Components ....................45
NFBA............................11, 23, 35
NOFP ......................................56
Northern Crossarm ..................43
P2000 ......................................62
Perka Building Frames ............63
Plyco ..........................................2
Polar Blox ................................61
Poly-Tech Radiant ....................55
R&M Steel ................................22
Rigidply Rafters........................30
Rosko Fasteners ......................65
Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors ..........16
Sealtite ....................................53
Semmler Systems ....................64
SFS intec....................................7
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