Description of Business and Organization	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Description of Business and Organization
Description of Business and Organization	1. Description of Business and Organization Headwaters Incorporated (Headwaters) is a building products company incorporated in Delaware, providing products and services in the light and heavy building materials segments. Headwaters' vision is to improve lives through innovative advancements in construction materials. The light building products segment designs, manufactures, and sells a wide variety of building products, including exterior vinyl siding accessories (such as shutters, mounting blocks, and vents), manufactured architectural stone, roofing materials and concrete block. Revenues from Headwaters' light building products businesses are diversified geographically and also by market, including the new housing and residential repair and remodel markets, as well as commercial construction markets. The heavy construction materials segment is the nationwide leader in the management and marketing of coal combustion products (CCPs), including fly ash which is primarily sold directly to concrete manufacturers who use it as a mineral admixture for the partial replacement of portland cement in concrete. Headwaters' heavy construction materials business is comprised of a nationwide supply, storage and distribution network. Headwaters also provides services to electric utilities related to the management of CCPs. In addition to the two building materials segments described above, Headwaters also has a non-core energy technology segment which has been focused on reducing waste and increasing the value of energy-related feedstocks, primarily in the areas of low-value oil and coal. In oil, Headwaters' heavy oil upgrading process uses a liquid catalyst precursor to generate a highly active molecular catalyst to convert low-value residual oil into higher-value distillates that can be further refined into gasoline, diesel and other products. In coal, Headwaters owned and operated coal cleaning facilities that separate ash from waste coal to provide a refined coal product that is higher in Btu value and lower in impurities than the feedstock coal. As described in Note 5, Headwaters disposed of its remaining coal cleaning facilities in January 2013 and the results of Headwaters' coal cleaning operations have been presented as discontinued operations for all periods. Headwaters' fiscal year ends on September 30 and unless otherwise noted, references to years refer to Headwaters' fiscal year rather than a calendar year.

1. Description of Business and Organization

Headwaters Incorporated (Headwaters) is a building products company incorporated in Delaware, providing products and services in the light and heavy building materials segments. Headwaters' vision is to improve lives through innovative advancements in construction materials.

The light building products segment designs, manufactures, and sells a wide variety of building products, including exterior vinyl siding accessories (such as shutters, mounting blocks, and vents), manufactured architectural stone, roofing materials and concrete block. Revenues from Headwaters' light building products businesses are diversified geographically and also by market, including the new housing and residential repair and remodel markets, as well as commercial construction markets.

The heavy construction materials segment is the nationwide leader in the management and marketing of coal combustion products (CCPs), including fly ash which is primarily sold directly to concrete manufacturers who use it as a mineral admixture for the partial replacement of portland cement in concrete. Headwaters' heavy construction materials business is comprised of a nationwide supply, storage and distribution network. Headwaters also provides services to electric utilities related to the management of CCPs.

In addition to the two building materials segments described above, Headwaters also has a non-core energy technology segment which has been focused on reducing waste and increasing the value of energy-related feedstocks, primarily in the areas of low-value oil and coal. In oil, Headwaters' heavy oil upgrading process uses a liquid catalyst precursor to generate a highly active molecular catalyst to convert low-value residual oil into higher-value distillates that can be further refined into gasoline, diesel and other products. In coal, Headwaters owned and operated coal cleaning facilities that separate ash from waste coal to provide a refined coal product that is higher in Btu value and lower in impurities than the feedstock coal. As described in Note 5, Headwaters disposed of its remaining coal cleaning facilities in January 2013 and the results of Headwaters' coal cleaning operations have been presented as discontinued operations for all periods.

Headwaters' fiscal year ends on September 30 and unless otherwise noted, references to years refer to Headwaters' fiscal year rather than a calendar year.