Page 6 - Green Builder Magazine January 2016 Digital Edition

Green Building NEWS

The latest on sustainability and renewable energy

CONGRESS EXTENDS RENEWABLE
TAX CREDITS
In a surprise move, Congress voted to
will continue to get a 2.3-cent-per-kilowatt-hour production tax credit
extend the renewable tax credit for solar (PTC) initially, but the credit will diminish every year, starting in
2017. By 2022, it will hit 10 percent.
energy until the end of the decade.AYBE IT’S BEST not to spend too much time
Renewal of the rebates is expected to spur more than $70 billion
wondering why the Grinches in Congress had a in new investment over the next few years.
sudden change of heart. Our guess? They may be

Mstingy, but they’re not stupid. The renewable energy
sector has skyrocketed in value, and analysts predict
exponential growth over the coming decade.
Both the House and Senate passed the credit extensions.
Solar got the best deal, with investment tax credits slated to
remain at 30 percent for the rest of the decade. Other renewables,
including geothermal, marine technologies and small hydroelectric
plants, received more conditional support: their tax credits were
granted a one-year extension at the 30 percent rate. Wind energy

Zero-Cement Block Now Available

Watershed Materials develops a CMU. The manufacture of lime, PHOTO CREDIT: WATERSHED MATERIALS
which acts as a binder, requires
masonry unit that achieves high temperatures, but produces
fewer carbon emissions than
I2,500 psi—without cement.N OUR OCTOBER ISSUE, we reported on Watershed the manufacture of cement. The
Materials, which had developed a low-carbon masonry block is made by compressing
unit called Watershed Block, made by compressing the mix in a specially developed
locally-sourced aggregates with half the cement as a machine and does not require
conventional CMU. In December, the company announced kiln-firing.
it had succeeded in developing a zero-cement Watershed
Block, which combines lime, ground granulated blast The block, which is being
furnace slag (a by-product of steel manufacturing) and natural manufactured in the company’s
aluminosilicates. The snow-white block achieves a compressive pilot factory in Napa, Calif., is
strength of 2,500 psi. currently available for projects
in Northern California.
ThoughWatershed Materials has not yet calculated the carbon footprint
of the new block, it is certain to be much lower than a conventional For more info, visit
Watershed Materials at

www.watershedmaterials.com

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