Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Carbon Storing Straw Structural Insulated Panel (S-SIP) for Wide-Scale Application
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC22C0042Title: Carbon Storing Straw Structural Insulated Panel (S-SIP) for Wide-Scale Application
Investigators: Dente, Anthony
Small Business: Verdant Structural Engineers
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023
Project Amount: $400,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II (2022) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
Purpose: Verdant Structural Engineers (VSE) conducted research to develop a straw structural insulated panel (S-SIP), now called the Verdant Panel, for single-family residential and mid-rise commercial applications. Once fully developed, the Verdant Panel will have carbon-storing, insulative and fire-retardant values competitive to existing “green” panels (such as styrofoam SIP panels). These panels will sequester carbon otherwise released from the disposal of agricultural waste; provide a non-toxic building material that easily facilitates the design and construction of carbon sequestering structures; create a bioregional economic system of cultivation, manufacturing, and construction; and enable efficient recyclability at a structure’s end of life.
The panels accommodate thickness, weight, construction method, cost, performance and code compliance needs. They both remove the carbon footprint of conventional insulative products and finishes, and store carbon—reducing the impact of the building while making the building itself a carbon sink. Over a five year span, it is projected that the cumulative production of the VSE S-SIPs could store 13,703,200 kg of C02, offsetting the equivalent of 5 million gallons of gasoline.
Objectives: This phase of our research continued to advance the S-SIP model by conducting tests and creating prototype panels. We focused our efforts on three major components: technical (research, detailing, and testing of structural and thermal systems); manufacturing and operations (building prototype panels, researching straw sourcing and processing, and factory and equipment necessities); and business projects (incorporating a new manufacturing company, developing marketing materials and a business model for the new entity, and exploring industry associations).
The activities in each of these categories feed into our primary objective: to advance the straw structural insulated panel (S-SIP) for early adopter clients and create prototype panels for building use. Much of this research was advanced through literature review and conversations with experts in our ever-expanding network. Aspects of the structural and thermal technical development were advanced through experimentation.
Team: VSE is an industry leader in sustainable, low-carbon engineering, performing structural engineering services for clients in the residential and commercial building industry. In pursuit of deep green design solutions, VSE regularly engages in research and code development alongside design work. The company has three principals and twelve full-time employees.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Work carried out:
(1) Technical: The structural and thermal tests we performed confirmed our basic assumptions about material behavior, and therefore confirmed the viability of the S-SIP product development.
Structural: We performed cyclic lateral load tests on wood-framed walls to answer: (1) Can the central wall stud (a.k.a. field stud) of a shear wall be omitted or offset from the plywood sheathing in a wood shear wall and (2) does the presence of straw insulation, which is denser than most conventional insulations and can be used as its own structural system, have an impact on the behavior of a wood shear wall?
Thermal: We tested samples following ASTM C518: Standard Test Method for Steady-State Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Heat Flow Meter Apparatus to observe the impact of chopped straw on R-value.
(2) Manufacturing and Operations: Prototyping was performed to explore different design parameters and constraints and to develop baseline metrics for future designs. The prototyping helped us understand the tamping characteristics of different straw species. We also conducted time trials to help us determine the required labor and therefore initial pricing for beta projects.
(3) Business Projects: We developed a baseline of materials for initial commercialization. This included branding the Verdant Panel, creating a website: verdantpanel.com, incorporating a new manufacturing company, and laying the groundwork for an industry association. We also began pitching the Verdant Panel to architects for use in beta projects.
Conclusions:
Results: There are not many building products on the market that serve as alternatives to high-embodied-carbon petroleum-based building products and even fewer that are carbon neutral or negative. In the United States alone, the insulation market was worth $11.64 billion as of 2022. Of the primary insulating materials–foam, glass-wool, and stone-wool–foam is the dominant material. A 2019 industry poll indicated that foam in the form of spray and batts accounted for nearly one quarter of the insulation in single-family homes alone. The timely remediation of climate change must be twofold–both to stop using and manufacturing materials that release carbon into the atmosphere and to start using materials that are climate-supportive.
The Verdant Panel is a critical tool for fending off the increasing impact of climate change, as it is a solution with an immediate effect. The building industry accounts for 39% of global CO2 emissions (a combination of operational and embodied carbon). To combat the negative impacts of climate change, solutions with immediate impact—like carbon-sequestering building materials—are crucial. As we scale production of the Verdant Panel, we anticipate storing 13 million kg of CO2 over the first 5 years and 9.17 billion kg of CO2 over 25 years. Construction industry professionals have set forth numerous initiatives–such as SE2050 and Architecture 2030–to eliminate the carbon footprint of the built environment, however there are few options on the market to make them achievable. The Verdant Panel is well positioned to address that need. This phase of work has put the team behind the Verdant Panel on the path to viable commercialization, with the fully code-compliant beta model is for rapid deployment.
SBIR Phase I:
Carbon Storing Straw Structural Insulated Panel (S-SIP) for Wide Scale Application | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.