By AnnMarie Marano

Sustainability continues to infiltrate all aspects of the design world.  And in the materials realm, metals are no exception. Architects and designers are becoming increasingly aware of the use of environmentally friendly copper alloys.

According to Alfred D. Barbour, president of Concast Metal Products and founder of www.greenalloys.com, two elements can label an alloy as green: recycled content and lead content. Concast's GreenAlloys™ are made up of 100 percent recycled material and have an extremely low lead content, often times as low as 0.05 percent. Typically the products go into water-handling applications, such as plumbing fixtures and valves, but also are used in food processing.

GreenAlloys.com is taking a stand against those who say "friendlier" alloys can't be done. "The main thing I want it to do is show people there are products out there that are sustainable and meet regulations going forward," Barbour says of the site. "So people designing or specifying see that it's technically possible to make bronze or copper alloy that meets regulations and is available. If those whom they buy from are saying there's just not material out there to make such a product, here's an example of how it's done."

Barbour hopes the site will be seen as a resource and that it showcases these materials that are available to make product today that is environmentally correct. "I had a conversation with an architect about a year ago. I told him we make a product line of no-lead alloys made from all recycled materials. He wasn't aware that bronze really had lead in it. So it's how we redirected our marketing focus (the site). At the same time, we introduced Eco Brass‚ and we wanted end-users to go to their manufacturers and ask what is available."

Developed by Sambo Copper Alloy Company, located near Osko, Japan, Eco Brass‚ is a lead-free alloy that is silicon based and is one of the few that can be cast, forged, or extruded. According to Barbour, many alloys can't fit all three capabilities: "The benefit for the manufacturer is that it can keep the same alloy in its product and not worry about contamination within its flow of material. Eco Brass is very good at dezincification because of the silicon content." Chase Brass & Copper Company is the exclusive producer of Eco Brass in North America and Concast is a sub-licensee for the continuous cast version of Eco Brass.

Concast also offers three other green alloys: Federalloy®, Standard GreenAlloys™, and Cu-Se-Bi - Envirobrass®. Standard GreenAlloys range from aluminum bronzes to high tin bronzes, and are recognized by the Copper Development Association (CDA), and are manufactured to American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications.

GreenAlloys.com provides technical information, chemical makeup, and typical uses for the products. "We make all of our product out of recycled material—scraps," explains Barbour, noting that "scraps" include copper used in wiring and demolition. "We aren't using primary copper, zinc, or tin.

"We're the leaders because we're looking for new applications," he continues. "We're also looking to reduce lead exposure for our employees in our plant and offer environmentally responsible product that is not on everyone else's radar at this point."   

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