People Who Live in Recycled Glass Houses

MISSOULA, Mont. – Missoula FCU was asking residents to haul all their old glass objects they plan to recyle into building materials for a new branch. The credit union, which plans to build the branch out of renewable, recycled and locally made products, was hoping to collect as much as 400 tons of glass it plans to pulverize for use in building materials. Some of the glass will be sorted by color and mixed with fly ash, a waste product generated by coal-fired plants, to form the lobby floor inside the 6,000-square-foot building. Glass aggregate will also be used in place of gravel and concrete throughout the building and property, right down to the landscaping. The credit union is hoping its efforts will earn the building a gold- or platinum-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The single-story building is being designed to capture the maximum amount of sunlight to minimize the use of artificial lights, and will use solar panels. It will also use renewable materials, such as sunflower seed board and cotton insulation, and recycled products such as counters and exterior siding made of post-consumer recycled paper.