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Serious Materials has won Popular Science's "Best of What's New" Award in green tech innovation for their eco-friendly drywall called EcoRock.
What makes this drywall so special? EcoRock requires 80 percent less energy to produce and cuts CO2 output by 90 percent compared to traditional gypsum-based drywall. These reductions in energy and CO2 are accomplished by eliminating heaters, dryers, calcining and burning of fossil fuels. The material congeals without heat and no mining is necessary in its production. It uses 85 percent recycled content and is fully recyclable. The company claims it holds up even better than gypsum drywall.
In contrast, traditional drywall is made by mining and then roasting gypsum rock in 500 degree kilns. Drywall factories produce about 20 billion pounds of greenhouse gases a year.
EcoRock is just one of the company's many green building products like ThermaProof insulated windows and sustainable sound-proof doors. EcoRock costs $14 - $20 per 4x8-foot sheet, about the same as high-end drywall and will be available starting in 2009.
via GoodCleanTech and Popular Science
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written by Clinch, November 15, 2008
Dry wall is plasterboard? (I'm also from the UK)
Never realised that, but drywall does seem a silly name anyway (I mean, aren't most walls dry?).
Never realised that, but drywall does seem a silly name anyway (I mean, aren't most walls dry?).
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written by Rusty075, November 15, 2008
plasterboard is "dry", as opposed to old-fashioned plaster walls, which is wet plaster applied to studs and lathe and then troweled smooth before it dries.
Interesting product though. Anything that gets me another LEED point is fine by me.
Interesting product though. Anything that gets me another LEED point is fine by me.
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written by Wouter, November 16, 2008
Hmm... isn't it so that cole fuel power plant have gypsum as by-product?
This by application of smoke gas desulphuration installations*. It converts sulphur (SO2) into gypsum.
So gypsum does not need to be obtained by mining and roasting.
* note in Dutch it's called: "rookgasinstallatie".
This by application of smoke gas desulphuration installations*. It converts sulphur (SO2) into gypsum.
So gypsum does not need to be obtained by mining and roasting.
* note in Dutch it's called: "rookgasinstallatie".
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written by David, November 19, 2008
Gypsum is a naturally occurring mineral, and is mined here in the USA. I have been to a couple of mines in CA. It is always nice when a better idea comes along, and is Greener.
DC Miller
DC Miller
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written by Diane, November 19, 2008
But what is "it" made of? The article mentions it's from recycled materials but not sure what is in the recipe.
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written by Linda, November 22, 2008
Think the coal burning plant by-product you're thinking of is fly ash - bad bad stuff, and it may be used in some joint compounds and finish muds. And, yeah, what is "it" (this sheetrock) made of?
This sounds like something I'm interested in using...
This sounds like something I'm interested in using...
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written by Linda, November 22, 2008
Think the coal burning plant by-product you're thinking of is fly ash - bad bad stuff, and it may be used in some joint compounds and finish muds. And, yeah, what is "it" (this sheetrock) made of?
This sounds like something I'm interested in using...will it come in 12 ft. sheets?
This sounds like something I'm interested in using...will it come in 12 ft. sheets?
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written by Steve, November 24, 2008
I'd love to see Serious Materials license the technology so that all drywall manufacturers could produce drywall this way. Otherwise these other competitors will use other measures (discounted pricing, etc.) to keep their product alive.
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written by Green Truths, January 26, 2009
After reading the patent, this is nothing but a lighter portland cement board. The key thing Serious Materials has been able to do is to convince some portland cement suppliers to label their ultra-fines as waste. While the ultra fines in portand cement are not critical to cement production, they still require HUGE amounts of energy to produce, and still pollute just like any other material requireing HUGE amounts of energy to produce. Serious Materials has been very shrewd getting these fines listed as a by-product. Serious can now claim they use post-industrial recycled materials to make their product, and they don't bother to tell you these materials use as much or more energy than producing the plaster used to make gypsum drywall.
One final note. The material in Serious Materials core is VERY caustic. The high pH of the material is gonna be a real pain (literally) to the installers who route out light switches and electric outlets. These poor souls are gonna have some eye problems when they get the dust in their eyes. Oh well.....
One final note. The material in Serious Materials core is VERY caustic. The high pH of the material is gonna be a real pain (literally) to the installers who route out light switches and electric outlets. These poor souls are gonna have some eye problems when they get the dust in their eyes. Oh well.....
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written by TJ, January 24, 2010
http://www.usg.com/
For the UK people. If your interested in more knowledge of the US plasterboard. This is USG. In America their drywall/plasterboard is so popular that their brand name has become the de facto name of drywall in building "Sheetrock". Kind of like everyone calls a photocopy a Xerox (or at least use to
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For the UK people. If your interested in more knowledge of the US plasterboard. This is USG. In America their drywall/plasterboard is so popular that their brand name has become the de facto name of drywall in building "Sheetrock". Kind of like everyone calls a photocopy a Xerox (or at least use to
)
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written by ProfessorEmeritus Peter Bagnolo, March 16, 2010
Hey Eco geek. I am a retired architect in the NY&Chicago areas. To us a product is not "Green" only if it is carefully manufactured, but more so if its outgassing is minimal to zero, not only of VOC's but other toxins which are far more dangerous than VOC's, toxins which might effect people with allergies and the growing number of people with MCS acquired by the bodily intake of Pesticides/Herbicides and organic and non-organic build materials, furnishings, paints and other products. Just thought you might like to know that MCS and allergies have grown in the population in parallel with the use of Toxic lawn garden and spraying for mosquitoes as well as building products especially those imported from China, the orient in general and Mexico.
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written by Rachel, September 24, 2010
Innovation in building materials is a huge contributor to the green building movement. If EcoRock delivers on its potential and its claims of sustainability, it's a fantastic development!
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written by Going Green, May 04, 2011
Go green in building materials is good if the quality of the products do stand up. Not every green product is well manufactured. However, it is a move into the right direction.
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It's taken me ages to realise that 'drywall' is what we call plasterboard in the UK