Sustainability and Gypsum Products

We have touched upon some of the varied ways that gypsum products can provide greater sustainability to a building project. There are also specific ways that incorporating standard or high-performance gypsum products into a design can contribute to green building certification programs, such as LEED version 4, The Living Building Challenge, or the National Green Building Standard for homes. Most of these contributions are fairly straightforward to document due to the inherent properties and characteristics of gypsum products as well as information available from the Gypsum Association or from manufacturers. These include the following.

Materials and Resources

Under LEEDv4, one of the fundamental approaches to certifying green building materials and products is the availability of a life-cycle assessment (LCA). Fortunately, the Gypsum Association has taken the lead on preparing some of the needed tools for addressing life-cycle sustainability for gypsum products. These tools apply to all gypsum manufacturing in the United States and Canada since the processes and materials are the same regardless of who the manufacturer might be. In that regard, the Gypsum Association has helped develop and made available product category rules (PCRs) for both gypsum boards and glass-mat gypsum panels that are manufactured in North America. Using these as a basis, it has arranged for independently verified life-cycle assessments of gypsum wall board conforming to the ISO 14040 series of LCA standards. Similarly, it has arranged an LCA for glass-mat gypsum panels based on industry averages and standard cradle-to-gate processes. Ultimately, these documents can be used to form the basis of environmental product declarations (EPDs), of which two have been issued so far by the Gypsum Association—one for type X gypsum boards and one for glass-mat gypsum products. Others may be forthcoming or may be available from individual manufacturers.

A number of things provide favorable input into LCAs and EPDs for gypsum products. From a manufacturing standpoint, the gypsum cores are either new or recycled natural material or incorporate reclaimed material using FGD synthetic gypsum. Overall, gypsum products are made from up to 90 to 95 percent recycled or reclaimed gypsum, while the paper facings are made exclusively from 100 percent recycled content, mostly old newspapers. On an annual basis, the gypsum industry uses more than 40 million cubic yards of paper material destined for landfills. This is in addition to the 8 million tons per year of landfill diversion when FGD synthetic gypsum is reclaimed and used.

Once products are ready for shipping, they require minimal packaging, thus reducing shipping waste and weight. Products shipped by truck are commonly protected with reusable tarps and banding. Even the risers used to separate stacks are made from gypsum scrap that can be reused or recycled. During installation, gypsum scrap can similarly be collected, reused, or recycled. Using abrasion- and impact-resistant gypsum board will help extend the life of the installed products where the need is evident. The same is true when durability-enhanced accessories such as corners and trim are used. At the end of their service life, gypsum products can be removed and recycled into new products, or they can be used as an agricultural soil conditioner or concrete additive. In all, gypsum products tend to rate highly in terms of meeting green building material standards.

The range of green and sustainable properties of gypsum board and panels contribute to better life-cycle performance and healthier indoor environments.

Indoor Environmental Quality

One of the key aspects of LEED and similar green building systems such as the WELL Building Standard and the Living Building Challenge is to protect human health in indoor environments. They do that by looking for demonstrable proof that the mix of materials and products used in a building contain no, or at least acceptably low levels of, indoor air pollutants or toxic chemicals. Other programs such as GreenGuard and the DECLARE aspect of the Living Building Challenge specifically look at materials and provide ratings or certifications for individual products. Using data about the ingredients and makeup of products, manufacturers can also arrange for independently verified health product declarations (HPDs) to be prepared. These are similar to EPDs but look beyond LCA requirements and focus on impacts to human health.

Standard and high-performance gypsum boards and panels can play a major role in helping to control indoor environmental quality. Some manufacturers carry products that carry GreenGuard or DECLARE labels, which simplifies specifying appropriate, healthy products. Others have HPDs available that can help specifiers make informed decisions when comparing different products. It helps all around that gypsum and the paper or fiberglass mats used are basically inert and nontoxic at the outset so they are not introducing anything harmful into the indoor environment to begin with. By going a step further, using products that actually absorb and sequester any free formaldehyde or other VOCs in the air actually helps to clean the indoor environment and make it a measurably healthier place.

For locations where exposure to moisture is possible and mold or mildew is an indoor environmental quality concern, then either moisture-resistant gypsum board or glass-mat (paperless) gypsum panels can be used. This tactic can improve the indoor environment and can contribute to credits and points in this category too by eliminating the threat of mold or mildew on human health. Similarly, using gypsum board that improves the acoustic performance and sound-limiting aspects of a space can help achieve acoustic credits under green building rating systems or the International Green Construction Code (IgCC).

Overall, gypsum boards, panels, and related products have a long and proven history of contributing to green and sustainable construction that can be readily documented.

Conclusion

Gypsum products have evolved to include a full array of standard and high-performance offerings. Building from the long history of use as both a natural or synthetic material, it has become an integral part of most residential construction in North America. By selecting products with the multi-attribute performance capabilities presented, design objectives can be met, construction can be enhanced, green building objectives can be achieved, budgets can be controlled, and the quality of life for people who reside in these buildings can improve.

Peter J. Arsenault, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is a nationally known architect, consultant, continuing education presenter, and prolific author advancing building performance through better design. www.pjaarch.com, www.linkedin.com/in/pjaarch

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