FIND A CONTRACTOR BUYER'S GUIDE
BECOME AN INDUSTRY PARTNER
MCAA Logo
MEMBER LOGIN JOIN
NEWS
Join Us For The 75th Anniversary Midyear Meeting Sep 7-11 ↗

General Shale partnering with University of Tennessee to build education center at CAC Beardsley Community Farm

Words: Dawn HenningGeneral Shale is continuing its longstanding partnership with the University of Tennessee by contributing a significant amount of brick for the new education center at the CAC Beardsley Community Farm.

During a recent groundbreaking ceremony for the education center, General Shale officials announced that the Johnson City, Tenn.-based brick manufacturer will provide 30,000 bricks to help construct the 1,200-square-foot facility. Recently, General Shale partnered with UT’s College of Architecture and Design to provide masonry training for the program’s students, who will work with university staff to help design and construct the education center.

General Shale is the North American subsidiary of Wienerberger AG and a leading manufacturer of brick, one of the world’s oldest green building materials.

Beardsley Farm is a nonprofit urban farm promoting food security and sustainable agriculture through practice, education and community outreach. The Beardsley Farm education center is a collaborative effort between the University of Tennessee Design/Build/Evaluate Initiative of the College of Architecture and Design, the city of Knoxville, the Public Building Authority, and others. The new facility will serve as a teaching tool to help the community gain a greater understanding of the benefits of sustainable farming.

“General Shale is pleased to partner with the University of Tennessee and the city of Knoxville to help bring this important project to reality for the Knoxville community,” says Charles Smith, president and CEO of General Shale. “The Beardsley Farm education center will serve as a model of sustainable design. With triple-width brick walls, this building will be extremely energy efficient — offering the thermal mass benefit of brick — as well as environmentally friendly and durable. Our company is proud to help Beardsley Farm attain an innovative, productive building that is in line with their sustainable practices, and which will effectively serve this community for many years to come.”
General Shale’s brick contribution will also play a role in helping the education center achieve certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system (Gold Level).

“The Beardsley Farm project is an excellent example of design-build education as applied research in the use of structural brick mass walls as the primary building material,” says Jennifer Akerman, assistant professor at the UT College of Architecture and Design. “This brings many sustainable design benefits related to life-cycle assessment, use of locally sourced materials, use of durable materials, and a reduced cooling load for the building. Through this facility, Beardsley Community Farm will gain significant community space that will help them educate the public about the benefits of sustainable farming.”
 0
Chairman's Message: REFLECTIONS SPANNING SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS
September 2025

MCAA has been posting lots of wonderful old photos from decades of records as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary. Many of these photos are black and white and show people at our MCAA events with men wearing suits and ties while the women wore dressy gowns

Dick Dentinger
Chairman’s Message
Read More
Business Building: What Are You Doing To Develop Future Leaders?
September 2025

When I ask my coaching clients if they have anyone in their construction company who could potentially move up from field superintendent to estimator or project manager, the typical answer is “No!” The same answer is usually given when asked if they have

George Hedley
Business Building
Read More
Building More: Smoke Signals or Fire Extinguishers
September 2025

Ever watch a hot-potato game break out on your jobsite? It usually starts small. Somebody spots a crooked door frame, mutters, “I’ll make a note,” and flicks the issue to the next trade like it’s radioactive. By the time that frame comes back around, dryw

Corey Adams
Building More
Read More
MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Episode 27 Recap: Rob McKay, Chief Operating Officer at Instone
September 2025

On this episode of the MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Rob McKay from Instone joins the show to talk about his story as well as the processes and procedures of manufacturing natural stone. Getting Started in Masonry: Rob’s Story Rob entered the masonry field by

Justin Stengel
The MASONRY STRONG Podcast
Read More