Some products help us use other products or materials more efficiently. For example, drywall clips allow the elimination of corner studs, engineered stair stringers reduce lumber waste, and concrete pigments and polishing systems can turn concrete slabs into attractive finished floors. We also recognize some products, like vacuum plumbing systems, which use less material than their conventional counterparts. Many products with this attribute are fairly unique, so we bring a skeptical eye to manufacturer claims, but not a specific standard.
Lythic Densifier for Polished Concrete
Lythic Densifier is a zero-VOC, silica-based concrete densifier.
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These products are environmentally attractive because they need to be replaced less frequently or their maintenance has very low impact, both of which can reduce costs as well as environmental impact.
Robust answers on typical service life of products can be hard to come by, however. In GreenSpec we reserve this criterion for products where the material is clearly more durable than alternatives, such as an exceptionally traffic-resistant polyurethane floor finish. We refer to standardized tests for durability when they are available and appropriate.
We also consider “appropriate durability”: long life is more important in a building envelope than in interior finish materials that will be replaced for aesthetic reasons. Here, reduced maintenance can be particularly important. An example is resilient flooring that doesn’t require regular waxing: an unnecessary use of resources and a health hazard.
Lythic Densifier is a zero-VOC, silica-based concrete densifier. Lythic's silica nanoparticles bond to concrete to make the concrete surfaces less permeable and harden them for durability and polishing. Lythic also offers XL Densifier made with larger silica molecules for restoring softened concrete slabs.
03 35 00: Concrete Finishing
Installing and maintaining common flooring materials—such as vinyl composite tile, carpeting, and terrazzo—add significant environmental and financial costs to a structure over its lifespan. Structural concrete that is already in place can double as finish surface, creating attractive flooring that mitigates those life-cycle impacts.
Polished concrete floors combine diamond stone-polishing technology and silicate chemical treatment to create a highly durable, nearly maintenance-free surface that does not require repeated applications of VOC-laden waxes or other potentially hazardous coatings. Pioneered in Sweden in the 1990s, polished concrete is created by grinding concrete until level and smooth, adding silica-based densifiers, and polishing using increasingly finer abrasives. The silicates fill the pores and react with the concrete to make it dense and less porous. This concrete can then be polished to the desired sheen to create a finished product. Low long-term maintenance costs—no maintenance beyond regular cleaning should be needed—help make polished concrete among the least expensive flooring options available.
Three of the most common densifiers in North America are sodium and lithium silicates and colloidal silica. Sodium silicate is inexpensive but requires rinsing after densification, generating alkaline wastewater that has to be disposed of appropriately. Lithium silica requires no rinsing and cures quickly. Colloidal silica (nanoparticles of amorphous silica suspended in solution) penetrates deeply and is more reactive than either sodium or lithium.
GreenSpec generally does not encourage the use of nanomaterials, but colloidal silica is approved by the FDA as an anti-coagulant in food and has been used extensively in industry since the 1950s. It should react completely with the concrete and not present a hazard. Overall, evidence suggests it is relatively safe, though all densifiers have to be handled and applied appropriately.
GreenSpec lists concrete polishing systems and supporting products, including water-based, zero-VOC densifiers.
GreenSpec also lists pigments, including recycled materials and mineral byproducts of industry, and concrete stains—typically a blend of acrylic polymers and pigments; surface-applied dyes that can be mixed or diluted to create custom colors; and color hardeners, blends of pigments, silica sand, wetting agents, and portland cement that are worked into freshly placed concrete to densify and color the surface.
07 19 00: Water Repellents
Water repellents are clear liquid products that are usually solvent- or water-based silicone, acrylic, silane or siloxane based.
Products listed by GreenSpec have VOC content below the limit of 400 grams per liter adopted by California and a number of other states for this category of products.
LEED Credits
EQc4.1: Low-Emitting Materials—Adhesives&Sealants
IEQc4.1: Low-Emitting Materials—Adhesives and Sealants
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Manufacturer Information
Lythic Solutions, Inc.
3012 N.E. Minnehaha
Vancouver, WA
www.lythic.net
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