Environmental Leader

Drywall will get greener this summer, according to this article in the San Jose Mercury News, a development that, “Is going to revolutionize the (building) materials business,” said Ted van der Linden, director of sustainable construction for DPR Construction.

Serious Materials, a company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, has created a drywall that takes ninety percent less energy to produce.  “The amount of CO we can impact is greater than any car company, ” says Kevin Surace, Serious Materials’ CEO.  Making drywall accounts for one percent of U.S. energy consumption and 25 billion pounds of CO in the air each year. The company, which has picked up $50 million in funding, plans to start selling the product this summer.

Drywall is made using a process invented in 1917.  The gypsum, the main ingredient in drywall, must be calcined, or super-heated.  But this new drywall, called EcoRock, doesn’t need to be calcined, making it a zero-emissions product, according to the article.

EcoRock seems a sure thing in the green building industry, which is booming.  In 2005, the U.S. market in green building products was over $7 billion.  It is currently over $12 billion and expected to continue to increase.