Photovoltaic Systems

Archive for the ‘Materials’ Category

I’m catching up on some reading and noticed a great article in the October issue of Dwell by @DianaBudds.  In “Counter Arguments,” Dwell shares its findings from putting seven eco-friendly surfaces to test with stains, spills, cleaver chops, and falling objects.  We’ve mentioned most of these surfaces previously, but some of Dwell‘s findings are summarized below in case you’re thinking about an upgrade or purchase.

1.  IceStone – Cradle to Cradle, recycled content, porous, requires frequent sealing.  $49-64 per square foot.

2.  Eco by Cosentino – Cradle to Cradle, recycled content, non-porous, low maintenance.  $68-$118 per square foot.

3.  Caesarstone Recycled – GreenGuard, non-porous, lifetime warranty.  $12-18 per square foot.

4.  Teragren Bamboo – susceptible to stains, could be damaged with cutlery.  $20-$25 per square foot.

5.  PaperStone – recycled content, easy to install, but should keep bleach away.  $24 per square foot.

6.  Bio-Glass – recycled content, made with trash, hard to blemish. $100 per square foot.

7.  Squak Mountain Stone – recycled content, rough around edges, fragile.  $32 per square foot.

[+] More about each of these seven countertops by Dwell.

Credit: Caesarstone Recycled Collection. 

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Colorado has millions of acres of pines throughout its forests that have been killed by an infestation of beetles. New Town Builders, a residential homebuilder in Denver, Colorado, has begun using salvaged wood from these trees for the structural framing of homes it is constructing. The company was approached about building a single demonstration home using wood from lodgepole pine trees which had been killed by the mountain pine beetle. New Town found that the wood was discolored but structurally sound and has now begun using the “blue wood” for all of their framing.

The past few summers have been particularly dry throughout the region, which provide ideal conditions for an outbreak of the beetles which have devastated the forests of lodgepole pine. The beetle kills the tree by tunneling under the bark and cutting off nutrients to the tree. The wood turns blue when the beetle exposes it to blue stain fungus. While this changes the appearance of the wood, it is structurally still perfectly good.

Finding a use for the wood helps to conserve other forests, and will help protect these forests as the dead trees are harvested rather than left as a fire hazard (which is doubly a cause for concern with the present dry conditions in the area). Colorado has more than three million acres of devastated timber forests.

Because of the dry conditions in the region, beetle-killed trees that have been dead for as long as 10 years may still be harvestable and usable. And New Town Builders is also now using regionally harvested material, rather than getting their framing lumber from more distant suppliers.

The company is finding that the blue wood is not significantly cheaper than other framing lumber. The trees still need to be cut down and transported, milled and graded like any other lumber, so there is little cost savings. But, New Town is taking advantage of a local resource and supporting local jobs at the mill that provides the wood, and transport is less expensive since the source is more local. It is hoped that other builders in the region will recognize the usability of this local resource and begin using it, as well.

Note: This should not to be confused with BluWood a coated, treated wood product.

Credits: CC BY-SA 3.0 Hustvedt (#1), USDA Forest Service (#3); New Town Builders (#2).

Related Articles on JetsonGreen.com:

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Keeping our tootsies pampered during midnight trips to the bathroom is a job any carpet can handle.  But clean the air of all that icky stuff floating around that we know is there but glad we can’t see? According to Dutch carpet manufacturer Desso, their new carpet line AirMaster can greatly reduce the concentration of that microscopic particulate matter to improve indoor air quality eight times better than hardwood floors. Tall claim, but they have several independent studies backing it up.

Turns out, carpeting as a floor covering is a pretty effective air cleaner.  Studies are now showing the harmful effects of airborne particulates are lowered when carpet is used in the home instead of wood or other hard surfaces.  I admit to being one of the uninformed that thought the opposite — and I have several asthmatic friends who replaced their wall-to-wall with hardwoods at the advice of their doctors!

But according to The German Allergy and Asthma Association, particulate matter settles on top of hard surfaces, where it gets kicked back up into circulation around our house.   Carpet, on the other hand, traps the dust and dander (which we all thought was a bad thing!) where it can be sucked up into a vacuum and disposed of.

AirMaster carpet is supposed to take the air-clearing properties of carpet to a whole new level, making it four times more effective at the job than your average shag, according to the independent German testing institute GUI.  A test performed by Phillips Floor Care and BOND Textile Research concurred, finding that particulate matter detached easier from AirMaster carpet fibers than their test subjects when vacuumed.

These new fibers are just one of many inventions this company has come up with to improve the health and sustainability impact of carpeting.  Desso is a Cradle to Cradle company, having made a formal commitment to the EPEA to make carpet not only “less bad” but actually good for the environment.  They just announced their latest sustainable innovation for their carpet tile line, which will now be comprised of 60% Econyl, a yarn made from 100% recycled content from their own carpet manufacturing process.

Unfortunately for us, Desso residential carpet products are not yet available in the U.S.  Even so, we at Jetson Green like our readers to be aware of any and all innovation having a positive impact on our environment.  How otherwise can we demand the same level of innovation from our own carpet manufacturers?

[+] More about Desso carpet from the Netherlands.

Photo credits: Desso.

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True to the company name, California-based Kirei USA recently announced a beautiful, new material for 2012 called Windfall. Windfall is an engineered wood panel made with a low-VOC adhesive and lumber from deconstructed buildings in the Pacific Northwest. It’s suitable for wall paneling, casework, signage, and other similar applications.

Windfall is available in several colors — unfinished, clear, anthracite, mocha, ivory, and leather. Panels are 3/4″ thick and come in 27″ x 96″ (solid) or 48″ x 96″ (three-ply).

The panels carry 100% FSC Mixed credit certification, according to Kirei, and may contribute toward LEED credits in several categories, such as for recycled content, certified wood, low-emitting materials, and regional materials (500 miles of Tumwater, Washington).

[+] More about Windfall Reclaimed Wood Engineered Panels.

Credits: Kirei USA.

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