Home building products that are ecologically sound and environmentally responsible are highly desirable but often drab. If they are brightly colored, sparkly and made of recycled materials, so much the better.
Tim Whaley, the Plano-based inventor of Enviroglas, a solid surface material for countertops and floors made of epoxy and recycled glass, realized there was glitter and gold in the landfill and reclaimed it for his product.
Enviroglas looks and performs like long-wearing terrazzo (marble chunks suspended in a base resin), but the crushed glass is shinier and brighter than quarried stone products and can be produced in any color combinations the customer desires.
A blue epoxy, with flecks of mirror, mother-of-pearl and red and purple glass chips? No problem.
Chunks of plate glass, mixed with green-tinted auto glass suspended in a clear epoxy for a sea-glass effect? That, too, is easily doable.
Whaley, 49, can match any paint color in the epoxy suspension agent, combine multiple glass colors, and make a one-of-a-kind countertop right here in the Metroplex, at a cost that is comparable to granite.
Eighty percent of Enviroglas is made of post-consumer waste that would typically end up in a landfill. The other 20 percent of the product is the binding agent, a Morricite epoxy, that according to company literature, “contains none of 17 chemicals that the EPA considers most harmful nor does it contain any phenols.” The products are free of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. The finished material does not need sealants, nor does it stain, chip or burn, making it more durable than many natural-stone products, and it can be cleaned with biodegradable cleaners.
Salesman goes green Whaley had been in the roofing business for Owens Corning and other manufacturers for 19 years and was a self-admitted “corporate curmudgeon.” A mutual friend introduced him to Mattia Flabiano Jr., who had a terrazzo manufacturing facility in Garland.
Flabiano was looking for ways to expand his flooring business; Whaley was looking for a way to bail on the roofing business.
In 2002, they agreed to investigate options beneficial to both their interests. It wasn’t long after that that Whaley read an article about Plano’s overabundance of recyclable materials that were going into the local landfill because there was no industrial call for their re-use.
One of the most egregious land fillers was glass. With his newfound knowledge about the terrazzo business, Whaley saw a green product opportunity, Flabiano saw terrazzo application possibilities, and the first samples of Enviroglas were created on the Garland factory floor.
Whaley remembers, “I had been out of town for a few days and when I came back he had made the first sample. He said, ‘Looks pretty good, doesn’t it? This could revolutionize the industry. I think this will change everything.’ Six months later he died, suddenly, of a heart attack.” Whaley was devastated, and says he had to persuade Flabiano’s sons to continue down the green path their father had envisioned.
“I know he’d be proud of where we are,” says Whaley, who projects sales of $1.5 million for 2007.
Enviroglas terrazzo flooring has been used in airport terminals in Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Jacksonville, Fla., and at Dallas Baptist University and Parkland Hospital, as well as local schools and the Wishing Place in Dallas.
Architects and designers who first used Enviroglas terrazzo for their large commercial jobs were soon requesting it for residential projects, and Whaley also began making products he calls Enviroplank and Enviroslab, which are made in Garland and shipped to job sites.
Enviroglas comes in several forms. It can be poured on-site for terrazzo floors or it can be factory-made in 1/4-inch thick planks of varying lengths for flooring and 1-inch slabs for countertops.
Planks and slabs come in standard sizes, but also can be custom-made to any dimension. Whaley indulges his clients’ desires for bold color combinations and willingly creates test blocks for the adventurous colorist.
Whaley has shelves filled with samples in his Plano showroom.
There’s been a great deal of experimentation combining the various glass, mirror, porcelain and resin colors.
Recently, Whaley added Enviromode to his line of products.
Enviromode is made from pulverized tubs, toilets and sinks.
Reach the writer at grobinson@star-telegram.com.
