New Glue Creates Superior Bond Without
Formaldehyde
Offcuts
Resources
Lumber Chain Thrives With Builder
Focus
Texas Attempts to Fix Workers' Comp
System
Plywood made with the soy-based
adhesive passes rigorous boiling-water test
Plywood, OSB, LVL, and glulams have one feature in common: They
depend on glue for their strength and durability.
Unfortunately, that glue often carries an environmental price.
Urea formaldehyde used for interior hardwood plywood tends to
off-gas into living space, and even adhesives that are more
stable in service, such as the phenolic formaldehyde used in
exterior sheathing panels, cause environmental and safety
problems at the manufacturing plant.
A new soybean-based adhesive may change all that. Developed by
an Oregon State University research team led by assistant
professor Kaichang Li, the protein glue was inspired by the
natural substances that ocean creatures like mussels use to
attach themselves to rocks in the pounding surf. An expert in
"interfacial adhesion," Li studies compatibilizers, which help
wood and plastic stick together in composite materials. After
analyzing the mussel proteins, he figured out how to modify
soybean proteins to create tough, waterproof glues with a
similar chemical structure — adhesives that, unlike
phenolic formaldehyde, don't rely on oil and natural gas as raw
materials.
In a two-cycle boil test, samples of
plywood made with a soy-based adhesive are submerged in boiling
water for four hours and dried for 20 hours, then boiled again
for four hours and dried for another 20. Even after such
rigorous treatment, the samples do not delaminate.
The main ingredient in Li's formula is soybean flour. The
trick, he says, is to add a few side groups to the natural soy
protein's molecular chain, improving the way the sticky
material grabs on to the cellulose and lignin molecules in wood
and making the bond much more resistant to water.
"When wood gets wet it swells, and when it dries it shrinks,"
Li explains. "The swelling and shrinkage create lots of stress
along the glue line. So if the adhesive is not strong enough,
the board will fall apart. Or if the adhesive is not
waterproof, then it dissolves." But panels made with Li's new
soybean glue can withstand hours of boiling without
delamination — a test that standard hardwood plywoods
manufactured with urea formaldehyde can't pass.
Li admits that the boiling test is somewhat extreme; it's
voluntary even for exterior grade plywood and OSB. In those
exterior products, urea formaldehyde doesn't provide the needed
weather resistance, which is why CDX plywood and OSB use the
more stable (and more expensive) phenolic adhesive.
Li has already struck deals with chemical company Hercules to
manufacture commercial versions of his new adhesive. And in
May, Columbia Forest Products announced plans to convert all
its hardwood plywood mills to the soy-based glue. Says Columbia
spokesman John McIsaac, "The new adhesive outperforms our
existing urea formaldehyde adhesive for both water resistance
and strength. So why wouldn't we jump on it?" He adds, "With
this product, we have no emissions at all, and that's better
for our employees and for our customers."
But what about exterior panels? Says Li, "We are working with
Louisiana-Pacific to get that going, and we did successfully
make some OSB. They cut a corner off a panel and threw it in
boiling water while we were working there, and boiled it for
something like two days, and it held together. It was pretty
amazing."
Currently, Li notes, modern OSB plants have to deal with excess
formaldehyde. To control emissions, he says, "they actually use
natural gas and burn everything up. But the problem is that the
natural-gas bill is larger than their profit. That's lots of
money."
A natural glue that can achieve better adhesion and durability
with less toxic risk has the potential to spread throughout the
industry. Modified soy protein chemistry also has possible uses
in site-applied glue and for better-adhering paints and
coatings. "We're working on that," Li says. "But we aren't
there yet." — Ted
Cushman
OFFCUTS
Remodeling Spending
Amid all the frantic speculation about the fate of the nation's
booming housing market, the remodeling industry continues to
quietly rake in the cash. According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
U.S. consumers spent $198.6 billion on remodeling in 2004, an
increase of 12.5 percent over 2003. The NAHB Remodelors Council
expects the upward trend to continue with an estimated $209
billion in spending in 2005 — and Kitchen and Bath
Business magazine's "2005 Market Forecaster" predicts that
kitchen and bath remodeling alone will generate more than $100
billion in volume this year. Many factors are feeding the
growth, including low interest rates, quickly appreciating home
values, and an ample supply of older homes.
In a case of reverse work-site theft, a group
of endangered plants mysteriously appeared on a contested
development in Sebastopol, Calif., according to the June 11
Sacramento Bee. The first biologists on the scene reported no
ground disturbance and concluded that the Meadowfoam flowers
were native. However, under pressure from developer Scott
Schellinger, the California Department of Fish and Game
investigated further and, after digging up the plants and
finding foreign soil and vegetation underneath, deduced that
the Meadowfoam had been transplanted. An ensuing criminal
investigation was unsuccessful in rooting out the
culprit.
Air conditioners, plywood, power tools, and copper tubing are
walking off job sites in record numbers, but they're not doing
it on their own legs. Taking a step toward deterring work-site
theft, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed
legislation on July 6 that stiffened penalties for stealing
"from a permitted construction site." As of December 1, 2005,
larceny involving stolen construction goods valued from $300 to
$1,000 — or the possession or reception of such goods
— will be considered a Class 1 felony.
Two more title insurers are shelling out millions of
dollars to settle allegations that they paid kickbacks
to builders, real estate agents, and lenders in exchange for
referrals. Fidelity National Financial Inc. and LandAmerica
Financial Group joined the kickback settlement club July 20,
sitting down at the table with First American Title Insurance
Co. — which just settled with Colorado regulators in
February (see In the News, 7/05) — to work out a
settlement with the California Department of Insurance. The
three companies ultimately agreed to pay $23.8 million in
penalties and consumer refunds, bringing the total in
settlement fees for the illegal rebating scheme to an
impressive $46.8 million.
After agreeing to donate $12.5 million to address lead-paint
poisoning, DuPont was dropped from a Rhode Island state lawsuit
against former lead-paint manufacturers, announced Attorney
General Patrick C. Lynch on June 30. The money will go directly
to such institutions as the Children's Health Forum, a
Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization, and Brown
University's School of Medicine to help fund public education
and research. Still facing a September trial date in the state
Superior Court are ConAgra, Atlantic Richfield Co., Millennium
Holdings, NL Industries, Sherwin-Williams Co., and American
Cyanamid Co.
Gas Leak Leads to Recall
On August
2, Desa Heating Products recalled 534 compact fireplaces that
have a faulty burner-tube connection to the gas valve. When
these units' main burner is on, the connection can leak gas,
creating the risk of a flareup. Named in the recall are
Vanguard models VMH10TPC and VMH10TNC and FMI models EFS10TPA
and EFS10TNA. Affected fireplaces bear serial numbers 015200000
through 017400000 and would have been purchased between April
2004 and June 2005. Owners should contact Desa at its recall
hotline, 866/279-3225, or visit
www.desatech.com.
RESOURCES
Guide to
FSC-Certified Wood
The goal of the Forest Stewardship Council is to improve
forest management through socially and environmentally
responsible purchasing. Recently, the nonprofit organization
partnered with Forest Products Solutions to release a training
guide for building professionals who use certified wood
products in their projects. Called Designing and Building with
FSC, this 28-page booklet includes a program overview, case
studies, sample specification language and documents, and a
resource guide. It can be downloaded in PDF format for free
from the FSC Web site (www.fscus.org).
Web Manual for Homeowners
While written warranties, manuals, and other documents are
becoming an increasingly common part of new-home sales, most
houses still lack specific instructions on their use. To fill
that information gap, the Builders Association of Minnesota and
the Minnesota Building Industry Foundation have launched
Home-Smart, a free Web site that gives homeowners an online
guide to understanding and maintaining their homes
(www.home-smart.org). In addition to basic
step-by-step tutorials explaining the various systems found in
a typical home, Home-Smart offers monthly maintenance
checklists, a trouble-shooting guide, and short features on
such topics as understanding outside moisture sources and
lowering utility bills. The site is designed to comply with
Minnesota's building codes, so homeowners in other states
(California, for example) might find some of the content
irrelevant. Still, builders groups throughout the country can
view this project — which was also funded by the NAHB,
the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Minnesota Department of
Commerce — as a useful model.
Lumber Chain Thrives With
Builder Focus
It's called "the survival speech," and it has become a company
legend at 84 Lumber. The year was 1992, and company president
Joe Hardy had called a strategy session with top executives.
"He told them, ‘There's Lowe's and there's Home Depot,'"
says company communications director Jeff Nobers. "‘You
can either go head-to-head with them — and you'll have to
do a lot of things right — or we can go back to our roots
and serve professional contractors. One way, we'll be very
successful. The other way, we'll probably be out of business in
two years. You figure it out.'"
The company chose the contractor-focused path, with Hardy's
daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, at the helm as president. By
1994, sales hit a billion dollars. In 2002, they topped $2
billion, and in 2004, $3 billion. This year, 84 Lumber will put
50 new stores on line; next year, perhaps 100. Clearly, the
company is riding the nationwide expansion of the home-building
industry. Says Nobers, "We're going into markets where we
expect 3,000 or more starts per year for the foreseeable
future."
For 84 Lumber, Nobers says, success is all about identity. "We
are not a retail home center. We are a hard-core
building-materials supplier. Ninety-five percent of our
business nationally is with professional contractors. You
aren't going to see a garden section in one of our stores.
They're steel buildings with vapor lighting — nothing
fancy. That helps to keep prices down."
Instead of frills, Nobers says, 84 Lumber delivers competitive
pricing and a full range of builder services. "We do blueprint
takeoffs. We provide builder's risk insurance and credit. In
some cases we do construction financing. We even have an
in-house travel agency that will book personal or business
travel for our customers on a no-fee basis."
84 Lumber also runs 18 component plants that build floor and
roof trusses and wall panels, with more sites planned. And it
offers a plan book of predesigned homes with complete materials
estimates.
"We have relationships with some production builders, but our
bread and butter is guys that are building maybe 25 homes a
year," says Nobers. Remodelers are also part of the picture, he
says, especially in Northeast markets where new construction is
relatively less active. — Ted
Cushman
Texas Attempts to Fix
Workers' Comp System
An eleventh-hour compromise in the Texas legislature between
competing versions of workers' comp reform was signed into law
on June 1 — to the evident relief of all concerned. In a
deal brokered by Governor Rick Perry, the final law sets up a
new division in the Texas Department of Insurance to regulate
workers' comp and lays out new mechanisms for managing claims,
adjudicating disputes, handling complaints, and providing care
to injured workers. Under the new plan, for example, employees
will have to get treatment within a designated provider
network, and wage-replacement benefits are slated to rise by 12
percent.
Texas workers, employers, doctors, and insurance companies have
all struggled for years with what was widely recognized as a
"broken" workers' comp system. "Everybody genuinely said,
‘This system that may have been intended to be all things
to all people is nothing to nobody,'" says Jay Dyer, a Texas
Association of Builders staff executive. But despite a
universal clamor for change, reform efforts hit a snag late in
the legislative session. "It was just the classic standoff
between the two chambers of the bicameral legislature," Dyer
says. One sticking point was the Texas Workers' Compensation
Commission, the agency that administered the old system. The
House bill eliminated the TWCC, while the Senate bill kept it.
In the end, the TWCC went.
Texas is the only state in the nation that lets employers opt
out of workers' comp coverage.
An issue legislators may revisit in future years is whether to
make participation in the new system mandatory. At present,
Texas is the only state in the nation that lets employers "opt
out" of workers' comp coverage. If a worker for a company that
doesn't carry comp is injured, both employer and employee must
take their chances in the civil court system. During hearings
on the House bill, state Rep. Bert Solomons, a leader in the
reform effort, said he wasn't ready to push for mandatory
participation in a system that was acknowledged to have high
costs and inadequate benefits.
Dyer says that for now his association is taking a "wait and
see" approach to the idea of requiring all builders to carry
comp. "We may get there yet," he says. "But one of the things
that has discouraged people from joining is that the premiums
have been cost-prohibitive and the coverage has not been
satisfactory. If the system does become affordable and
workable, most folks might just make the business decision to
go ahead and join."
— Ted
Cushman