Sustainability

Our belief in permeable pavements as a sustainable design and build practice has been put to the test at our large-scale facilities.

In 2011, we set out on an ambitious project to prove that permeable pavements were a viable option for replacing large-scale concrete pavements in industrial applications. We invented a product called the INFLO (now HYDRA), which could take heavy loads and high traffic circulation, then we produced and installed 370,000 sq ft of it and ran third-party research projects to measure the quality of the water that would filter through this large-scale permeable pavement.

It was also, our way of showing municipalities, designers, and other industry specifiers that permeable pavement was a reliable paving material that had considerable positive effects on water de-contamination. 

Since then, we have paved the following facilities with permeable pavements: Chambly, Ottawa, Ayr, and Chicago.

We have conducted a study on our permeable pavement to determine how it improved to quality of the rainwater.

The findings:
Improved water quality is achieved through a reduction in the following pollutants: 

• Sediment reduced by 93% 
• Phosphorus reduced by 77%

View Sources

Techo-Bloc is actively working on ways to reduce the cement in our products through mix design changes, research and development testing. Our effort have lead to us being able to reduce cement usage up to 40% in our products with Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs). 
One of these SCMs is slag, a byproduct and waste material of the metal industry. This allows us to add recycled content to our products while reducing our CO2 footprint. 
 
Our efforts are committed to reducing cement across all of our products for the greatest environmental impact.  
 
This evolution in mix design has allowed Techo-Bloc to minimize the environmental impact of its product while maximizing performance & durability.

We have run a pilot project in our new production facility to reduce plastic in our packaging with a strapping system. The results for year one are 18 500 lbs reduction in plastic usage in our packaging.  
 
We have ambitious plans to reduce our packaging to the absolute bare minimum while maintaining the quality and limiting breakage that could lead the product wasted. 
 
By 2027 we will be investing $7M to convert our packaging process in all of our facilities and machinery to reduce plastic usage across all sites. This will equate to over 175,000 lbs of plastic reduced per year.

Studies have shown that substituting a portion of Portland cement with slag can lead to reductions in CO2 emissions ranging from approximately 200 to 500 kilograms of CO2 per ton of cement replaced. 

• Continuously funding research projects for a better tomorrow.
• We've invested $250,000 in a methane-powered truck for testing our transportation fleet at our Pen Argyl site, directly sourced from our waste landfill operations
• We are increasingly transitioning towards incorporating more electric vehicles into our company’s car fleet. So far, our vehicles have covered a total distance of 475,000 km.
• Recognized by Deloitte as one of Canada’s best-managed companies for the past five years.
• We are dedicated to educating contractors across North America about sustainable products and practices through our annual Hardscaper Showcase Tours.
  
   
  
   

Techo-Bloc has been on a mission to educate and empower 10,000 industry professionals  for the last 20 years. The Hardscaper Showcase is the largest event in North America that teaches company owners how to strategically plan projects to reduce waste. The tour aims to help the community adopt responsible stormwater management techniques and teach the latest responsible installation techniques.

Additionally, it is part of Techo-Bloc's mission to raise awareness about permeable pavers in residential and commercial projects. We strongly believe that together, we can learn to build a better future.