CalStar offers five new masonry shapes

Product watch

By Candi Mcdonough

CalStar has added several new shapes to its production capabilities, dramatically expanding the number of styles available across its lines of sustainably manufactured bricks, pavers, and structural units. Many of the new products were developed in response to customer requests, demonstrating CalStar’s capacity to add to its product offerings as demands and uses evolve.

Like all CalStar masonry products, the new shapes are made with a proprietary process that incorporates up to 37% recycled content and eliminates the need for kiln-firing, typical of traditional clay brick, or the use of Portland cement, used to bind concrete masonry products. As a result, each product requires up to 81% less energy to make while emitting up to 84% less CO2. This dramatic reduction in environmental footprint comes with no sacrifice to aesthetics or performance, and the raw material and energy savings actually equate to more affordable per-unit costs.

The new shapes, which come in all of CalStar’s available colors, include:

Engineer brick: These 3-5/8” x 2-3/4” x 7-5/8” bricks install as quickly as a modular brick, but cover more square feet of wall with the same number of units, lowering installation costs.

Monarch Brick: This 3-5/8” x 3-5/8” x 15-5/8” brick is popular in commercial construction.

Full-Height Thru-Wall Units: In response to the success of CalStar’s original half-high 8” x 4” x 16” and 12” x 4” x 16” Thru-Wall units, the company now offers an 8” x 8” x 16” and a 12” x 8” x 16” Thru-Wall unit. Like the original Thru-Wall, these new units combine the structural properties of concrete block with the aesthetics of brick.

12×12 Pavers: Initially produced for the Toyota Center, home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, the nominal 12” x 12” x 60mm units module with and are the perfect complement to CalStar’s existing 4” x 8” Holland pavers. The pavers feature a smooth finish with chamfered edges.

“As the demand for CalStar’s sustainable bricks continues to grow, so do requests for new shapes. We’ve been able to introduce these new shapes as projects and specifications have required them, then add them permanently to our catalog,” said Michael Telischak, vice president of manufacturing for CalStar. “Our flexible manufacturing capabilities allow architects to achieve desired aesthetics while also contributing to a lower carbon footprint and a more affordable masonry budget.”

For more information, visit www.calstarproducts.com.