Regarding the last product you wanted information on, we had a wall of
shelving built out of WheatBoard for the EBN office. Great stuff. It's a
particleboard (i.e., varying density with coarser particles in the center),
but the cabinetmaker who built the shelving said it performed more like a
medium-density fiberboard (MDF), which is more uniform and a lot heavier
but generally machines better than particleboard. This product is produced
with a polyurethane resin (MDI) so is formaldehyde-free. Given the fiber
situation in North America with both wood fiber and waste agricultural
fiber, I believe that over the next ten years, straw-based particleboard
and MDF products will capture significant market share from wood-fiber
products. PrimeBoard makes the WheatBoard product you asked about; a much
larger wheat-straw particleboard plant is currently under construction in
Alberta. When that plant comes on line around the end of the year,
straw-based particleboard should begin to become more widely available.
To learn more about WheatBoard and our experiences with it, check out our
article in the March 97 issue of EBN.
Alex Wilson
Environmental Building News
RR 1, Box 161
Brattleboro, VT 05301
802/257-7300
>
>I came across a couple of interesting products that I wanted to
>pass on--
>
>Had been looking for a non-toxic one-part urethane caulk for concrete
>joints and found one from Flex-Bon Paints in Fort Myers, Florida called
>"Raincheck". It is non-toxic, cleans up with soap and water and "has been
>designed to compete with silicone rubber and solvent-borne one component
>urethanes in terms of general physical performance properties". Contact
>Kevin Phillips at (941)489-2332.
>
>The other is Medite FR, a version of Medite containing a fire retardant,
>with a UL 723 Class 1 flame rating test. It is also formaldehyde-free,
>although the factory says that could change in the future if they decide to
>make a cheaper version.
>
>--and another I want to know if anyone has tried? A straw board called
>"Wheatboard" from Primeboard in North Dakota, that looks like it's
>somewhere between a particle board and medium density fiberboard.
>
>Mike
>
>O'Brien & Associates
>Environmental Building Consultants
>Portland General Electric Earth Smart program
>obrien@hevanet.com
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