If you're going to hike in the snow, you'll probably want to wear your wool socks. Not only do they insulate your toes from the cold, but your socks will still do a good job if a little snow or slush gets into your boots. That same principle applies for insulating wall cavities in places where sheep's wool is plentifully available.
But a new technology promises to make lamb's wool an even more practical choice for the building industry, as U.S. manufacturer SayrCo prepares to introduce WEKA semi-rigid insulation panels to market. The product is essentially a wool-based interior sheetrock with some serious R-value and other environmental benefits…Think of it as ‘sheeprock.'……….
The manufacturing process is rather simple and low-tech. Freshly shorn wool is thoroughly chopped, washed, and then mixed into a binder that includes quicklime and other natural ingredients designed to fortify the wool's natural fire, mold, and vermin resistance. The resulting slurry is then pressed into 4' x 8' or 4' x 12' sheets, air dried, and covered on both sides with the same type of heavy paper used in gypsum board.
The lightweight WEKA panels have an R-value of 6.5, and they can be mounted 3 deep on the indoor side of exterior walls to produce an R-19.5 assembly without stuffing any additional insulation into the cavities. As a result, builders can use 2 x 4 rather than 2 x 6 studs, and also eliminate the thermal bridging that is typical when conventional batts are used.
Installing WEKA panels is no more complicated than installing drywall. The panels use the same tape, mud, fasteners, and adhesives as conventional sheetrock while providing drywall and insulation in a single step.

Energy and costs savings through insulation

The WEKA panel is replacing conventional insulation and drywalls with one single rigid sheep's wool panel.
This results in reduced material and installation costs.
Up to 44% of a homeowners utility bills are due to heating and cooling costs, this panel can reduce your operating costs by more than 60%.

Natural Characteristics and Benefits of Wool

Wool is improving in-door air quality by absorbing certain air contaminants. Wool can absorb large quantities of formaldehyde (commonly present in buildings). Furthermore, wool can absorb and release moisture without degradation or significant loss of thermal resistance (up to 40% of its own weight). The insulation panels are made of sheep wool that has been treated with a natural stabilizing solution to provide pest and fungal resistance. The panels are efficient in preventing the formation of mold and can reduce existing mold through high alkalinity and by simply absorbing the humidity or condensate in air conditioned rooms. The high pH of 11 is stopping the growth of mold.

 Environmental advantages

According to Christian Tasser, the developer of WEKA, a similar product has been used in Italy for 10 years, and it has proven thoroughly stable and free of any issues. From that experience, Tasser can point to an important IAQ benefit: stabilized sheep's wool can absorb up to 40 percent of its own weight in humidity and water content, and then release it when conditions dry out. “It takes the humidity out of the room, and at the same time it neutralizes any kind of unwanted fungi or pests,” he said. “The wool also controls any air contaminants such as formaldehyde by drawing it into the wool, and it stays there.”
In addition, Mike Peterpaul of SayrCo aims for high environmental standards on the manufacturing side. “We're working with sheep farms within a 100 mile radius of our plant,” he said. “The energy footprint to manufacture the product is very, very low. The wool is naturally dried after it's washed, the water will be recaptured, plus the whole process has a very low carbon footprint,” he said.
Peterpaul expects to start shipping WEKA in quantity by August or September, 2010. He is looking to launch it through a network of 100-200 green oriented distributors. SayrCo intends to support the rollout with local advertising that draws builders, contractors, and consumers directly to those dealers.

Low Carbon Footprint

WEKA panels require no thermal treatment or chemical processes, which minimizes the energy input during the production of the panels. The WEKA panel is fully recyclable after the lifetime of the building.

LEED Points:

 -Thermal Comfort (2pt)

-Rapidly renewable material (1pt)

-Innovation and design process: light, recyclabe (5 pt)

-Optimize energy performance (2pt)

-Use of local materials 500 miles: FOB Athens,PA (2pts)

Your walls alone are not adequate to protect you from the sound, pests and weather outside. They are not as tough as you think. It is necessary to have a blockade between walls to keep the pests, cold and dampness out of the house and the heat and sound in. Some kind of insulation is already fitted in most of the homes, but they all aren’t created equally.

Many of the older homes are prepared through fiberglass insulation. Though fiberglass is low-priced and to some extent effective in controlling climate, but it saves small amount of energy and offers minimal protection. It can also be unsafe for your health. A touch of fiberglass makes your skin sore and itchy and inhaling a sharp fiber can lead to serious health problems. They can create scars in your throat that can cause more problems.

Spray foam insulation is an alternative to traditional fiberglass and it helps to construct very strong barriers between the outside world and your home. Spray foam solidifies as a spongy substance, as it is liquid polyurethane. Given that it applies in a liquid form, spray foam fills even in the tiniest cracks and enters the whole surface that is being treated.

While fiberglass can be easily torn, chewed, or easily displaced eventually, spray foam sticks everlastingly to that area. Its strength and texture makes it difficult for anything to enter through it. Even mold and water are discouraged to seep in and cause damage. Thus spray foam insulation is a better and safer alternative to another material.

The benefits of spray foam insulation also comprise of the betterment of soundproof walls. Loud voice is dampened by the broad surface. It can also be applied on floors and ceilings.

Spray foam is also called as ‘green material’ because it keeps the home warm during winters and cool during the summer. This way it saves far more energy than fiberglass.

Recyclable and renewable resources are also used to create spray foam and this way it helps in contributing to our environment and to the economy. Initially it seems to be expensive, but this insulation gradually helps you in saving money in the long run, as it increases the value of the home and saves a lot on your electric bills. Spray foam insulation is a safe, green alternative to other insulation materials with various benefits.

The mineral gypsum has many uses in today’s society.  In addition to the manufacture of drywall for building construction, gypsum is also widely used as a soil amendment, in the production of cement, and as an ingredient in the manufacture of many types of commercial products.  Since the gypsum makes up approximately 90% of the weight of a piece of drywall, if the gypsum can be recovered from the drywall, the majority of the material can be recycled.  Scrap gypsum drywall is currently being recycled in several locations in North America.  Examples include:

• The manufacture of new drywall
• Use as an ingredient in the production of cement
• Application to soils and crops to improve soil drainage and plant growth
• A major ingredient in the production of fertilizer products
• An additive to composting operations

Despite its successful use in many locations, most drywall in North America is still disposed in landfills.  Challenges to widespread recycling include collection and separation, low landfill disposal fees, and the need for more education of potential end users of the recycled material.

More and more markets are putting programs in place to recycle drywall. In DFW area PremRock Drywall Services, has a recycling program for builders or homeowners. They place a container on job site, for drywall only. After installation of drywall, the container is removed from job site, and taken to a recycling yard close to Fort Worth. The recycling yard implements the same examples listed above. The Drywall is weighed, and a ticket is issued, for third party verification. This program helps builders, and home owners that are building a “LEED,” certified project.

American Clay natural Earth Plasters bring the appealing finishes of Nature to your Home, Office, School, Business, anywhere you want to add healthful beauty to your interior walls and ceilings. Manufactured in and using materials from the United States, American Clay uses natural clays, recycled and reclaimed aggregates, and vibrant natural pigments in each of our three beautiful finishes: “Loma,” “Porcelina,” & “Marittimo.”

American Clay Earth Plasters surround your family or workplace with the warm beauty of soothing texture and rich color – far exceeding the interior surfaces produced by traditional paint, stucco, or other finishes. Earth Plasters are non-dusting, mold and fade resistant, repairable and moisture controlling.

Natural Earth Plasters from American Clay are easily adapted to Do-It-Yourself projects. The Traditional and Classic method of creating American Clay surfaces is non-toxic, easy to repair, easily reworked, and exciting to learn.

www.americanclay.com

American Clay may contribute up to 7 LEED credits (8 if you include the recycling area as all of American Clay’s packaging is recyclable), and 5 in most areas. For more information on LEED please go to:  http://www.americanclay.com/pdfs/LEEDPoints.pdf.

I Have worked with American Clay now for over a year, with many different home builders. All have absolutely loved the product, and were very surprised to see how easy it is to repair. Aside from this, American Clay is by far my favorite wall finish to apply.

PremRock Drywall Services, is a longstanding applicator here in Dallas/Fort Worth Area. If you need further information on this product, please email:  jim@premrock.com.

 The only true green alternative to gypsum drywall. Same price. Better performance.

Traditional gypsum drywall has remained virtually unchanged since its invention over 100 years ago.  Our increasingly fragile world requires rapid innovation to meet the changing conditions of our environment.  EcoRock is an evolutionary leap in drywall— an advanced solution that offers superior performance today, without sacrificing the prosperity of tomorrow.  We call this ecolution.

The Serious Difference.

 EcoRock uses 80% less energy to produce than gypsum drywall
Naturally cured and dried, EcoRock eliminates the energy-intensive, high-C02 generating calcining and oven-drying found in gypsum drywall production.

EcoRock is made of 80% recycled materials
EcoRock is made using 80% post-industrial recycled waste, including waste from steel and cement plants—with no gypsum.

EcoRock is designed to be fully reutilized at end of life
EcoRock can be used as a pH additive for soils and can be returned to the production of EcoRock and other building materials as a valuable raw material. Unlike gypsum, EcoRock may be safely disposed of in landfills if necessary.

EcoRock is the most mold-resistant and lowest emitting drywall
EcoRock outperforms all other mold resistant drywall by 50%. EcoRock scores the highest ASTM D3273 rating of 10 out of 10, showing zero mold growth over a six week period, (other published tests go only four weeks). No harsh anti-fungal chemicals are used on its surface or within its core.

EcoRock also drastically reduces the quantity of indoor air contaminants over any other drywall. EcoRock generates 60% less dust, and presents no negative effects of airborne mercury often generated during wallboard production using FGD (recycled) gypsum from coal plants.

For more information see:

http://www.seriousmaterials.com/ecorock_dsheet.pdf