Even if you missed us at the Sidney Hometown Parade last week, you couldn’t possibly miss the latest developments at the site of our new building. We’ve cleared the site of the asphalt from the back portion of the parking lot and began driving the steel footings.The material we excavated is being recycled at another site, and we’re backfilling with material better able to handle the weight of the building we’re putting up.
We’re trying to keep this building as green as possible, and that doesn’t just mean energy-efficient. We’re using recycled materials wherever we can – from the structural steel to the office paper.
Steel is an easy material to recycle. It doesn’t lose any of its best qualities – strength and durability – when it’s recycled. And in fact, recycling old steel, to some degree, has been part of the industry for 150 years. The difference today is the amount of recycled content that’s used, and the effort a contractor makes to use it.
We’re pushing to do both. Our architect tells us we’re going to use more than 120,000 pounds of steel, so the difference between 10 percent recycled and 25 percent recycled is more than 18,000 pounds of metal kept out of a landfill.
At its foundation, steel is what makes this building stand, so what’s the point of energy-efficient lights or windows if the very heart of the building isn’t green, too?
Next up for the builders is laying the foundation, which we expect to happen in early July. If all goes well, by this time next year, we’ll have a new home.
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