Sustainable building practices and product manufacturing have become pivotal to many projects. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the building sector is responsible for more than 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, Chicago-based USG, which manufacturers common building products such as ceiling tiles and gypsum wallboard, committed to the Architecture 2030 Challenge for Products—an initiative that requires products to incrementally reduce their carbon-equivalent footprint every five years by until ultimately reaching 50 percent below the product category average, by the year 2030—in July 2016.
In accordance with this challenge, USG recently released a lightweight wallboard, Sheetrock Brand EcoSmart Panels. USG met the challenge requirements by using 99 percent pre-consumer recycled materials, cutting its manufacturing process's water usage by 25 percent, and reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent.
The EcoSmart Panels are the third generation of USG's Sheetrock Brand wallboards, and maintain their 5/8-inch-thin profile and durability, according to the company. The wallboards are offered in two core formulations: Firecode X, which is suitable for load-bearing and non-load-bearing wood- or steel-framed, fire-rated walls; and Firecode 30, for single-layer wood- or steel-framed, 30-minute-rated wall assemblies.
This article is part of a weekly series spotlighting the latest in innovative products and materials. Read more of ARCHITECT's Objects of the Moment here
.
