Even yours truly, the stone detective, doesn't know it all. So, once in a while i get to go back to school, attend a seminar and get me a edumacation.
I recently have had several cases where going green has been an issue. So, I pulled out the old daily news and started looking for some seminar on substantiality. Luckily for me the local university was offering a class on becoming what is called a "lead green" consultant. I signed up and was looking forward to the class to find out what all this green stuff was about.
The day had arrived and I got in the old "woody" and headed to the university. I arrived at a large ivy-covered stone building.
I walked inside and, of course, noted the old, worn Tennessee pink marble floors. I found the classroom and walked in. There were about thirty people in the classroom and, according to the sign up list that was going around, it looked like most of them were architects and engineers.
This should be interesting, I thought. I grabbed a cup of jo and a stale danish that they had provided and took a seat. The lecturer came out, introduced herself and started what I thought was going to be a boring three-day class. I was sort of right for the first day, but day two got really interesting due to the fact that I started a fight.
On day two, the professor was talking about green and sustainable countertops and made the following comment, "In this slide, you see a countertop made of a mixture of recycled material, and is more sustainable than real granite.
Hold on a minute, did I hear her correctly? Did she say that it is more sustainable than granite? I was quiet up to this point and was raising my hand like Horshack from that old TV show "Welcome Back, Kotter.
She stopped and said, "Yes, Sir? Do you have a question?"
I said, "Yes. How can it be more sustainable than real stone?"
She said, "Because it uses recycled stone and glass, which makes it more sustainable.
"Well," I said, "I was wondering if you were aware that in addition to stone and glass, that it also contains polyester resins, which are plastics, and that the manufacturing of these polyesters is far from green.
She replied, "Oh... um... thank you for your input. Yes, I'll have to check into that.
Well, I felt proud as a peacock but then some smart architect had to comment. From the back of the room I heard, "Yeah, but granite contains dangerous levels of radon gas. Why recommend it, even if it is more sustainable?"
So, I asked the professor if I could comment. I proceeded to give everyone a lecture on how the MIA (Marble Institute of America) had a study done, and that claims of granite having harmful radon gas were total poppycock!
Well, this led to an interesting question and answer session for the next few hours, but at least I got my two cents in. It amazes me how many architects, interior designers and others are afraid to use natural stone due to the propaganda that has going around about how unsafe it is due to radon gases as well as other "studies," and just plain old lies.
When in doubt, check your facts and you'll find that natural stone is one of the safest materials to use. Dozens of articles have been written on the subject and featured in all stone publications including The Slippery Rock Gazette.
Make sure you cover all your bases and are well informed to handle any questions some skeptics out there may still have.
The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. Frederick M. Hueston is a worldwide expert on stone installation, failures, fabrication and restoration. He heads up the leading stone inspection team in the industry at Stone Forensics (www.stone forensics.com) and is the chief technical director for StonePRO Solutions. Please visit www.stoneforensics.com www.stoneprosolutions.com and www.stoneandtilepros.com for more information.
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