It seems as though we are constantly coming across
more and more items and products that help us build sustainable and
efficient homes. Georgia-Pacific Gypsum produces a drywall product
that is gaining popularity among those of us building high-performance
homes.
These products that can help qualify for LEED® (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) certification and are the result
of energy-efficient plants and processes.
The drywall that we use in our homes is ToughRock® by
Georgia Pacific. This drywall is made of reclaimed fly ash and recycled
paper
and is produced in Wheatfield, Indiana. This plant has completed
an independent, third-party certification process for recycled content
through Scientific Certification Systems (SCS).
Georgia-Pacific
Gypsum has SCS Recycled Content Certification for gypsum wallboard
products manufactured at their Tacoma and Wheatfield
plants; and for Dens™ products manufactured at their Tacoma
plant. GP has been manufacturing synthetic gypsum wallboard
using the output of the Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) process since
1992. This process
removes sulfur dioxide from the emissions of fossil fuel-burning
power plants, which helps reduce acid rain. Since it uses by-products
from other manufacturing, it also helps reduce landfill demands.
Their energy-efficient plants convert process waste heat into useable
energy. By using captured heat from neighboring manufacturing operations,
Georgia-Pacific Gypsum reduces the use of natural gas to produce
gypsum wallboard. Georgia-Pacific Gypsum plants in Long Beach,
California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, use co-generation technologies
and consume
70% less natural gas to produce gypsum wallboard compared to traditional
gypsum plants. They also support sustainable production
by using reclaimed gypsum, recycled plant waste, recycled paper,
and clean fuels. They recycle
enough wallboard annually to build over 50,000 homes.
But
we don’t
stop there. While other builders pay to have their drywall scrap
hauled to landfills, we recycle ours again!
Randy Scott, owner of Scott’s Dependable Services Inc. is one
of our many resources that help us in our production of high-performance,
sustainable homes. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management
has issued Scott a waste handler’s permit for Roy’s Recycling,
named after his late grandfather, Roy.
After drywall is installed in our homes,
Randy arrives on the job to collect the remaining scraps. He returns
with them to his 52 acre farm and
proceeds to grind up these scraps into a fine powder that he sells
for agricultural uses. Farmers then spread the gypsum at two to three
tons an acre before planting or after harvest.
Gypsum,
composed mainly of calcium, potassium and sodium, delivers nutrients
to the soil
to improve growth. It also breaks down clay, loosens soil and reduces
compaction and crusting. Compaction prevents the plant’s roots
from penetrating in the soil and reduces the plant’s ability
to find nutrients in the soil. Crusting develops when water falls
on this soil and creates a thick layer of clay on the surface. That
prevents the water from flowing through the soil, so it erodes. Crusting
leads to plant discoloration and root disease.
Roy’s Recycling can house up to 1,500 tons of scrap in his
15,000-square-foot barn and sells it at $11 a ton. The recycling
machinery can grind five tons an hour in a 4-foot-deep, 8-foot-wide
tub grinder. The end result is 93 percent gypsum, 7 percent paper
(made of wood pulp).
Since grinding drywall creates a fair amount of dust Scott runs
the machine while it’s
raining to minimize clouds. He intends to install a sprinkler
system over the barn doors or a dust-collector system.
This part of our green building process is a great example
of green building’s maxim of cradle-to-cradle systems and generates
huge benefits for all of us. We continue to search out new and innovative
approaches to high-efficient and sustainable home building. Randy
can be reached at 765.754.3093 or leadarrows@ndwave.com
