Grantee Research Project Results
2021 Progress Report: Husk-to-Home: A Sustainable Building Material for the Philippines
EPA Grant Number: SV836952Title: Husk-to-Home: A Sustainable Building Material for the Philippines
Investigators: Tam, Kawai , Rust, Michael , Mathaudhu, Suveen , Dayap, Bryce , Morrison, Christopher , Siahon, Jannette , Hwang, Edward
Current Investigators: Tam, Kawai , Rust, Michael , Siahon, Jannette , Truong, Katherine , Sakaguchi, Keila , Martinez, Dianna-Kristina , Fischer, Isabelle , Sharma, Aneesh , Lamas, Jacqueline
Institution: University of California - Riverside
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: II
Project Period: February 1, 2017 through January 31, 2019 (Extended to January 31, 2023)
Project Period Covered by this Report: February 1, 2021 through January 31,2022
Project Amount: $74,838
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet - Phase 2 (2016) Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
From the midway point of 2021, the Husk-to-Home (H2H) team was able to slowly begin a transition to relatively normal operations. With lab access now available to all teammates, further focus could finally be put on expanding the production capabilities of boards for primarily fire resistance testing, along with other material characterization tests.
Progress Summary:
With the recovery of the world after the pandemic, on-campus laboratory activity has returned to normal capacity. Husk-to-Home’s goals for this report mainly include preparation for burn/flame testing, production expansion, additional mold testing, and analysis of UV testing results.
To gather data on the board's burning characteristics, an accredited lab with the capabilities required by the team located in New York was contacted, and a wall size of 3' x 3' was agreed upon for testing. According to specifications laid out in ASTM E119, a mock-up of a typical household wall structure (including studs, nails, insulation, and sheetrock) was designed with both sides covered by a 3' x 3' wall of H2H boards meant to represent the board's intended use as cladding or siding. Nine thermocouples will be placed on the side opposing the flame front in order to determine how the boards heat up and handle exposure to flames at various points on the wall. The flame test has been scheduled for the end of April 2022.
With the old capabilities of the team's manufacturing process, up to two 9"x 9" inch boards could be produced per day. In order to meet the goal of producing enough boards for a large area in a short period of time, production had to be greatly expanded. Three additional aluminum molds were manufactured with a tight tolerance design, and no welds needed.
During testing in 2020, it was found that under moist conditions, the Husk to Home boards were susceptible to mold growth at rates higher than normal compared to cedar wood planks. A new test involving coating the boards with a protectant varnish was undertaken to determine if they could be properly protected. At the end of the two-month testing period, cedar and uncoated H2H boards saw mold growth, while none of the coated boards or controls displayed any apparent mold growth. Although the H2H boards are susceptible to mold growth in their raw form, varnish coatings appear to offer great protection against this problem.
In April 2021, ten 3" x 3" samples of H2H boards were sent to undergo UV testing under the ASTM G154 testing procedure by a qualified materials testing lab in Chicago, Illinois. This test involved exposure to UV light and humidity for 500 hours, which mimics outdoor conditions. Fifteen samples were tested, with two uncoated center-piece H2H boards, two raw corner piece H2H boards, two coated center-piece H2H boards, two 25% recycled H2H boards, two competitor boards and a control for each type. ASTM's ratings are on a scale of 1-5, with 5 meaning "none" as in "no defects" and 0 meaning "very severe".
Notable results include a rating of 2 or "pronounced" for the ASTM scale and "poor" for the general appearance scale of all uncoated H2H boards. The only H2H boards to receive a better rating were those coated with UV-protectant varnish that received a rating of 3 or "Moderate" for the ASTM scale and a rating of 6 or "Good" on the general appearance scale. It appears that UV-protectant varnish offers multiple benefits for the boards including UV protection and mold resistance. The competitor's boards received a rating of 5 or "none" on the ASTM scale and a rating of 4 or "fair" on the general appearance scale. Based on these results it will be highly recommended that H2H boards be coated with a UV protectant paint or varnish before they are used in an outdoor application.
Future Activities:
With the completion of various characterization tests, the next step of the Husk-to-Home project is the implementation of the material into a commercial product, such as a skateboard for proof-of-concept. The skateboard platform is to be composed of multiple layers of 1/8" H2H boards pressed together. These layers will be pressed together in a style similar to plywood with the help of third-party equipment and adhesive. Once the design has been realized, the product will need to be characterized for quality control and scalability. Additionally, further testing is planned to evaluate the board's recyclability through further characterization tests.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 3 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
sustainable materials, recyclable materialsRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractP3 Phase I:
Rice Husk: A Sustainable Building Material for the Philippines | 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.
Project Research Results
- Final Report
- 2020 Progress Report
- 2019 Progress Report
- 2018 Progress Report
- 2017 Progress Report
- Original Abstract
- P3 Phase I | Final Report