The Lightness of Being Geofoam

Known primarily for its use in major transportation projects, EPS (expanded polystyrene) Geofoam is a cellular plastic material useful for an array of commercial applications. EPS Geofoam has high-compressive strength and is lightweight, only a one percent density of traditional earth materials. It is manufactured in blocks and meets ASTM D6817 specs.

Geofoam is especially appealing for reducing weight on concrete decks, green roofs, providing fill for floor elevation changes and landscapes, or reducing lateral pressure on foundations and retaining walls.

A Green Roof for the Performing Arts Complex
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Kansas City, Missouri opened September 16, 2011.

This technically and architecturally advanced 285,000 square foot facility includes the 1,600-seat Helzberg Hall, 1,800-seat Muriel Kauffman and a 1,000-car underground parking garage with a green roof.

The parking garage rooftop provides the outdoor space needed for performances and gatherings. To create the green-roof space the engineers required a lightweight fill material to reduce the weight of the space on the parking structure below. EPS Geofoam met that criterion.

Some 350,000 cubic feet of EPS 19 Geofoam with PerformGuard termite resistance treatment were fitted atop the parking garage’s sloped concrete roof deck. Installation in thicknesses ranged from 12 inches to 14 feet.

Approximately 118 truckloads of EPS Geofoam were required to complete the project.

The Geofoam is the base for a park, with grass, walkways, with 48 boxed-forms cut in the Geofoam to accommodate that number of trees.

The Geofoam design is by ACH Foam Technologies of Denver. The Geofoam installer was George Shaw Construction Co. of Kansas City, Mo.