CALEDONIA, Wis., Jan. 12, 2010 -- CalStar Products, Inc. opened its first green brick and paver plant in the Village of Caledonia, in southeastern Wisconsin, less than 80 miles north of Chicago.

The plant helps address national environmental goals of improving U.S. energy independence, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, preserving natural resources, and reducing landfill demand. At the same time, it puts a brownfield facility back into productive use, and brings new green jobs to a region with a distinguished manufacturing history that has been particularly hard-hit by the recession.

The first of its kind in the nation, the Caledonia plant takes to commercial scale a new process that combines CalStar innovations in material science, technology and manufacturing. Incorporating fly ash from a nearby We Energies power plant, CalStar's process reduces the energy required and CO2 generated in brickmaking by 85% compared to conventional fired clay brick. At the same time, the products use 40% post-industrial recycled material.

CalStar was awarded a $2.44M tax credit under the Recovery Act Advanced Energy program for clean energy manufacturing projects. CalStar plans to open at least five additional plants to manufacture sustainable building materials over the next several years.