Barrier One Inc., of Ocoee, FL, has been recognized with a prestigious 2012 NOVA Award for its High Performance Concrete Admixture. This coveted international award recognizes construction techniques and methods that improve quality, productivity and safety, while reducing the ever-increasing cost of construction. More than 30 innovations from across the globe were considered, yet only five earned a 2012 NOVA Award from the Construction Innovation Forum (CIF).
"The NOVA Awards honor the construction industry’s top innovations – achievements that increase quality and efficiency, and reduce cost," said Rasha Stino, CIF Vice Chair. "An expert jury carefully selects award-winning innovations with the assistance of leading engineers serving as investigators. CIF congratulates Barrier One on this milestone achievement."
Barrier One’s high performance concrete admixture was developed by flooring experts to enable project teams to maintain demanding project schedules, remain on budget, stop incessant project delays and subsequent topical moisture mitigation applications on new concrete slabs. The product’s unique complex formula is free of all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and is specifically designed to have a natural chemical reaction with pre-existing elements inside the concrete to eliminate the route of moisture vapor emission through the slab by restricting the integral capillary system. The chemical reaction forms a permanent barrier (capillary break) that is integral to the concrete, insoluble and irremovable. The product is equally effective in normal weight and lightweight concrete, whether below grade, on grade or above grade. Since it is an admixture, it is integral to the concrete and not surface applied. Its use will not interfere with the bonding of adhesives, resinous coatings, roofing membranes or cementitious underlayments.
Barrier One’s process completely mitigates liability from the owner and project team in respect to endemic project delays due to the inability to install flooring on schedule as well as in respect to future moisture-related flooring failures. By testing concrete from every day of placement of Barrier One-dosed concrete, the process removes the “moisture unknown” in the planning process and eliminates the necessity for field moisture testing, expensive topical remediation systems, and the inability to install flooring/roofing on schedule and on budget. In fact, flooring and roofing can be installed in as few as nine days after slab placement.
