Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Eco-Wall Systems: Using Recycled Material in the Design of Commercial Interior Wall Systems for Buildings
EPA Grant Number: SU831822Title: Eco-Wall Systems: Using Recycled Material in the Design of Commercial Interior Wall Systems for Buildings
Investigators: Johnston, Scott , Almquist, Catherine B , Miklos, Adam , Marko, Andy , Savin, Audrey , Harold, Ben , Schinke, Bob , Adam, Brian , Veneklase, Charles , Peterson, Chris , Smith, Dana , Platt, Glenn , Storer, Heather , Weigand, John , Barry, Kevin , Gitlin, Marc , Cerny, Mark , Paskvan, Mark , Burke, Marshall , Frederick, Michael , Dubeck, Mike , Dzubiak, Mike , Cahill, Mike , Granurn, Natalie , Ettouney, Osama , Boothe, Patrick , Robinson, Sara , Kisha, Shannon , Nye, Taryn
Institution: Miami University - Oxford
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: September 15, 2004 through September 14, 2005
Project Amount: $9,995
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2004) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Chemical Safety , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
This proposal describes an interdisciplinary project involving students from several academic departments at Miami University in the design of commercial wall systems to be manufactured from recycled materials. The goal of Phase I of the project is to develop and conduct preliminary manufacturing feasibility and marketing research studies on novel new approaches for incorporating recycled paper products as the principle material ingredient in wall components designed for use in interior partition systems for buildings. The paper industry in the U.S. produces 80-90 million tons of paper each year with a substantial amount of it being deposited in municipal land fills after a short useful product life. The paper industry is the third largest user of energy and has historically been one of the largest polluters of rivers and stream. The paper recycling process uses 55% less water and 60-70% less energy than processing virgin pulp. By developing creative new markets for recycled paper we can have a positive impact on the environment while creating job opportunities in the rapidly growing market for “green” building products. The project will be a yearlong effort, involving students from each of the disciplines whose expertise will ultimately be needed to bring the proposed building system to market. The interdisciplinary design process we are attempting to model has an obvious parallel in the construction industry. Architects, interior designers and engineers all contribute to the design of a building, usually through standard consulting arrangements. In this project, however, we will involve students from each of the participating disciplines at the very beginning of the design - at the conception of the system - and throughout the process. Potentially the greatest impacts of the grant will come from the new educational paradigm being advanced. Students.from across campus will be working together in a dynamic team structure that utilizes their unique knowledge without slotting them into pre-conceived roles. Equally important is the fact that they will be charged, not just with solving an assigned problem, but with deciding at the outset what questions to ask.
Conclusions:
There were three overall observations coming out of our work on Phase I of the ECU-wall project that have guided the development of the phase II proposal. First — The original idea to design paper-based wall systems for the interior walls of commercial buildings does have great potential for further development. Second — It is clear that this is but one of the many products, both within the building industry and in the broader product market, that could be developed using new paper molding techniques aimed at creating end-use product configurations. Third — Successful product development requires the involvement of interdisciplinary teams that include all the disciplines necessary to design, test and market a product. This Phase II proposal describes a series of research tasks that are aimed at achieving two distinct but related outcomes. Ultimately, we hope to built a first-rate test facility at Miami with the capability to conduct a wide range of experiments on large format molded paper-based products. The press we will build to fabricate and test 1/4 height prototypes of the ECO-wall designs and to conduct “proof of concept” experiments that will demonstrate its’ viability. It is here, in the early stages of product conception and testing, that Universities can play the greatest role in helping industry make the transition to a more sustainable future. There are many examples — Herman Miller, Ford Motor Company, Interface Carpet and Nike and to name a few — where industry has demonstrated the willingness to be proactive in re-conceiving their products and restructuring their operations to be more environmentally friendly. For each of these well known examples there are thousands of other companies that may be willing, but don’t know where to start. The need for early stage sustainable product consulting is the biggest impediments to providing industry with the tools they need to define their own sustainable futures.
Supplemental Keywords:
RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, waste reduction, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, green design, sustainable development, holistic design, waste minimization, ecological design, environmental conscious construction, green building design, alternative building technology, pollution prevention design, eco-wall systems, architecture, environmentally conscious designThe 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.