Silicon Valley cleantech company launches commercial production of energy-efficient, low CO2 brick and paver products January 11, 2010

CALEDONIA, WI — CalStar Products, Inc. opened its first green brick and paver plant on Monday in the Village of Caledonia, in southeastern Wisconsin.

The first of its kind in the nation, the Caledonia plant takes to commercial scale a new process that combines innovations in material science and manufacturing. Using fly ash from a nearby We Energies power plant as the body and binder of the products, CalStar is able to reduce the energy required for brickmaking by 85% versus kiln-fired clay brick. At the same time, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by a similar 85% reduction in CO2 generated.

Distinguished speakers at the event included U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (WI-D) and Wisconsin Secretary of Department of Natural Resources Matt Frank. “We welcome CalStar Products to Wisconsin and wish you great success with your fly ash brick product”, enthused Senator Feingold. The plant promises to bring 30 – 35 new jobs to Racine County in the next two years, lower the energy and carbon footprint of brick-making by 85%, and provide architects and masons with a sustainable alternative to high-energy fired brick.

“We love brick and want to safeguard and extend brick masonry as a primary technique within the built environment”, said Mike Kane, building materials veteran and CEO of CalStar Products, Inc. In recent years, brick has started losing ‘wall share’ to competitors like fiber cement board, vinyl and wood because some LEED architects have questioned its ‘green’ qualities. “Chicago and Milwaukee have a deep history with brick—and a well-articulated commitment to LEED construction. Midwest designers want our brick”, said Kane.

The plant location was chosen in November 2008 after a competitive process that included candidate partners at four utilities in four other states. “We Energies and Wispark LLC (the real estate development arm of We Energies) put forward a strong proposal—matched by their ability to execute on several fronts: material supply and quality, logistics and real (economic) participation”, said Tom Pounds, COO of CalStar Products, Inc. We Energies provides fly ash from the Oak Creek Power Plant in neighboring Racine, WI and Wispark LLC purchased and retrofitted the Young Radiator Building to make it suitable for its new brick manufacturing tenant.

“The Jan. 11th opening is a culmination of 14 months of engineering, planning and construction”, said Director of Manufacturing, Mike Telischak. Telischak continued, “The Caledonia Brick Plant is making modular and utility size commercial face brick with very high dimensional tolerances. We are also making sustainable pavers for light pedestrian traffic like walkways and other hardscapes.”

Dr. Amithaba Kumar and Dr. Julie Rapoport, the CalStar directors of R&D and Product Development, respectively, have overseen 3 years, $15 Million in venture capital, and over 30,000 man-hours of lab and testing work come together in a new commercial product. “It’s the kind of opportunity that comes once, maybe twice in a career. This team pulled it off”, said Dr. Kumar. “We feel a deep responsibility to try and effect positive change in the brick industry”, said Dr. Rapoport.

CalStar Products, Inc. has 30 committed brick and paver dealers from 24 states, representing 46 regions around the U.S. “With this entrepreneurial group of distributors, we can educate the top 5,000 LEED designers on sustainable masonry”, said Gene Guetzow, CalStar National Sales Manager. “We’re well-positioned to enter the main commercial masonry markets: K – 12 schools, colleges and universities, municipal buildings, healthcare facilities and retail”, said Luke Pustejovsky, VP of Marketing and Business Development.

CalStar bricks and pavers come in a range of eight beautiful earth-tone colors and feature smooth textures, sharply creased edges and excellent dimensional stability. Designed for LEED commercial construction, fly ash bricks and pavers compete on quality and aesthetics, while remaining comparably priced to high-quality architectural fired brick. Customers may call (262) 877-2369 for more information or go to www.calstarproducts.com.

ABOUT CalStar Products 
CalStar Products, Inc. develops and manufactures low-energy, low CO2 green building products for commercial exteriors and hardscapes. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, with a Caledonia, Wisconsin brick plant opening in January 2010, CalStar is redefining the next generation of green bricks and pavers. The Company’s masonry products are made of 40% recycled material and represent embodied energy and CO2 reductions of 85% compared to fired clay brick. With 30 dealers covering 46 regions within the U.S., CalStar is helping LEED architects and specifications professionals choose sustainable brick masonry and landscape design.