Green Architecture & Building Products

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Material or Product

Homasote

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Homasote’s environmentally-intelligent building and industrial packaging products are made of 98 percent recycled materials. First made in 1916, Homasote fiber board consists of 100 percent post-consumer newsprint mixed with a small amount of other ingredients, including paraffin wax for water repellency and copper metaborate for resistance to fungi, termites and carpenter ants.

Homasote has thousands of uses. Available in plywood-size panels but lightweight, it is easy to handle and cut, yet sturdy enough to be screwed to studs on the interior or exterior to add insulation and deaden sound. (One half inch of #440 insulates with an R-value of 1.2 and blocks sound with a noise reduction coefficient of 0.20). Although Homasote winds up being covered either by siding or drywall, it is still very weather-resistant. During World War I, it was used on field hospitals and military housing in France. Explorers to the South Pole in the 1930s and 1940s lined their buildings with it.

The Homasote company is the nation's oldest manufacturer of building products made from recycled waste paper. Each year, it has the capacity to convert 80,000 tons of old newsprint into useful building products.

The Homasote brand embodies an array of uses and fiberboard products specific to sound control in floors and walls, tackable wall board, fire protection for roof decks, concrete expansion joints and industrial packaging. Homasote products are non-toxic, wax emulsified for moisture- and mold-resistance and integrally protected against termites and fungi, ensuring a healthy environment.