Powerscape Guides for Green Star Rating
Imagine working with a wallboard that possesses the impact
toughness of masonry, fire protection and wet area capacity of
specialty plasterboard, combined with the design and installation
convenience of standard plasterboard.
Now it is reality.
Called USG Powerscape Health® these linings create an entirely new class of highly desirable and durable indoor environments.
Introduction
Good Environmental Choice Australia state that around 30% by weight
of resources disposed of in landfills is construction and demolition
waste. And, further, that a large proportion of this waste is
gypsum plasterboard. USG Powerscape Health® interior linings can
deliver superior ecological, energy, and safety outcomes, surpassing
traditional Australian lining alternatives.
Outstanding Recycled Content
The Good Environmental Choice plasterboard Standard in Australia
requires a minimum recycled content of a very modest 5%. USG
Powerscape Health® linings blitz this, as 95% of their raw materials
come from recycled external waste streams:
• 85% is post industrial gypsum, a waste product obtained from an
electricity generator. No open cast or underground mining of gypsum
is needed for the manufacture of USG Health® linings;
• 10% is recycled cellulose, meaning no trees are harvested for the
manufacture of USG Health® linings.
Using USG Health® linings achieves a recycled content almost 20
times greater than the Standard requires.
Minimisation of Site Waste
Using USG Powerscape Health® interior linings can reduce site waste.
This is due to the ability with Health® to reuse off-cuts during
installation; machining in extra tapers to off-cuts as needed.
With plasterboard, depending on wall design, typically up to 10% of
the purchased material ends up not being used for the intended
lining purpose. This is because most plasterboard off-cuts do
not have taper edges, and hence are not usable as lining material on
subsequent wall sections.
Some fibre cement off-cuts can be theoretically tapered on site for
re-use in subsequent stages, however in practical terms the
abrasiveness of the material and its adverse dust characteristics
mean that this process is seldom attempted.
Again high waste levels to landfill often result.
Demounting and Reuse Now Possible
USG Health® linings can be demounted and recovered during
demolition, and then be reused again on another structure. This is
normally impossible with plasterboard and fibre cement as the
original tapers in these sheets are not realistically able to be
cleaned of jointing materials.
Whereas USG Health® linings after demounting can have new edge
tapers machined in, making reuse now practical. See the Powerscape
linings Installation Instructions for additional details, and also
for steps to take during initial installation, to make demounting
and reuse an easier task.
Key Endorsements
Good Environmental Choice Australia USG Powerscape Health®
Gypsum Fiberock board have been assessed against the GECA 4-2005
–Gypsum Plasterboard Standard, and awarded with the Australian Good
Environmental Choice Eco-Label.
http://www.geca.org.au/ProductsRegister.htm
Scientific Certification Systems The 95% recycled
content applies to all USG Powerscape interior linings sold in
Australia. Scientific Certification Systems certify this claim, and
the latest entry can be found on their web site,
by searching either under USG, or Fiberock® (the brand
for USG Powerscape linings in the US)”.
http://www.scscertified.com/ecoproducts/products/
Ecospecifier Ecospecifier® is a leading group of independent
eco-assessment professionals. For more details on Ecospecifier and
the USG Powerscape products refer to
www.ecospecifier.org
USG Powerscape and Green Star
Green Star provides a range of third-party certification tools for verifying that a project has met the technical requirements of sustainable building through various aspects of its design and construction. A project may be awarded one of three levels of certification by earning up to 100 points in nine categories.
PDF of Where USG Powerscape Products May Assist in Gaining Points (click to view)