Wallboard

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Requirements

• Thermal - net zero energy
  • stops air infiltration
  • thermal mass
  • stops humidity...when painted
• good for painting / sealing
• sound proofing (a plus)
• Materials
  • low embodied energy
  • high recycled content
  • can be recycled...cradle-to-cradle
• within 200 miles
• Durable
  • lasts 100 years

Design / Selection

• Ideas
  • Potentially use different materials on different walls
  • Homasote products [1] offer a variety of fiberboard and interior panel products made from 98% post consumer recycled materials.
  • Enviro Board [2] A low-cost, environmentally friendly building panel produced from agricultural wastes.
  • Dragonboard green alternative to drywall...best for 100year standard.
  • environ|biocomposites products in MN. Here's one Dakota Burl
  • Kirie Board
  • Environmentally friendly production facilities for alternatives to standard drywall have recently emerged. The processes used by Clean board & Serious Materials EcoRock reduce the embodied energy & new materials required to make drywall with innovative new processes and by using recycled materials in their products. These materials are new to the market & produced on the west coast so they have limited availability in Detroit at this point.
  • If necessary to use new Gypsum Drywall it will be locally produced and supplied.
    • Recycled Content: Recycled gypsum may be from manufacturing scrap and some post-consumer clean construction waste. Synthetic gypsum (also called flue-gas or recycled) is from post-industrial waste: a by-product from stack scrubbers in coal-fired power plants. Specify the highest recycled or synthetic gypsum content available- 100% is possible. The recycled content varies by manufacturer, and also by the specific plant from the same manufacturer, so it is best to get documentation. Below are products that have recycled and/or synthetic gypsum content:
      • G-P Gypsum Board by G-P Gypsum Corporation: The plant in Tacoma WA uses synthetic gypsum. The plants in California and Nevada use varying amounts of recycled gypboard.
      • Sheetrock Brand Gypsum Panels by USG Corporation: USG uses synthetic gypsum in all of its standard Sheetrock products. They use more than any other manufacturer nationwide, but it varies by plant (half their plants use 90% plus, the other half blend it with mined gypsum). They also use 100% post-consumer recycled paper on all USG wallboard.
      • Fiberock Abuse-Resistant Gypsum Fiber Panels by USG Corporation: Fiberock panels are made from synthetic gypsum, perlite, and recycled newsprint paper, with a total recycled content of 95%. They have no paper backing, and they are stronger, stiffer, denser, and hold nails and screws better than standard gypboard.
      • Temple- Inland Gypsum by Temple-Inland Forest Products: Temple-Inland uses synthetic gypsum in over 60% of its wallboard, and the Tennessee and Arkansas plants use 95-99% SCS-certified recycled content. When specifying, keep in mind that the environmental costs of shipping may outweigh a greater recycled content.
      • Gold Bond Gypsum Wallboard by National Gypsum Company: National Gypsum Company uses synthetic gypsum for it’s Gold Bond wallboard in some of its plants.

• • • Sourcing the new supplied drywall from manufacturer's and suppliers with in 500 miles or less of the Green Garage will help reduce environmental impact. Gypsum is an abundant material and the paper backing is usually supplied from recycled sources. The disadvantage of conventional drywall is the large amount of energy used in traditional manufacturing methods, 25% - 45% of the cost of the material goes to energy cost in production. In standard construction sites 15% - 20% of the new product is wasted when this 'new' material could be recycled or simply used as a soil amendment on site.
  • Alternatives: Veneer Plaster - This is an up-and-coming finishing technique that continues to gain popularity. It consists of a layer of thin drywall, called blue board, with a very thin, 1/8-inch layer of plaster applied on top. It's even faster to install than drywall because no finishing is required. This system is still at least 25 percent more expensive than drywall, so time will tell how eventual price decreases affect its use and popularity.

• Design
  • Green drywall spec

Rationale

• Connectedness to the earth
• net zero-energy
• simplicity