Environmental Product roundup for February 2008

Windows and timber

The Greenn Building Store are to launch two new products to its portfolio of sustainable window options. The new Ecocontract range of Forest Stewardship Council timber is a sustainable option for large scale projects, especially housing associations and developers struggling to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM criteria.

GBS are also introduce Accoya timber as an option in their Ecoplus and EcoContract ranges. It’s a new product manufactured using a non-toxic acetylisation, with GBS boasting of a “60 year minimum life expectancy”.

New lining board

A new sustainable lining board made from recycled paper, newsprint, and cardboard is to serve as the lining through an environmental ECO house being shown at the 2008 Ideal Home Show.

The board, known as Glasroc Ridigur H, is made by British Gypsum in a process that converts reclaimed paper fibres into a robust and hardwearing board that offers high levels of thermal, fire, and acoustic performance. The board, originally developed for the offsite market, has a high racking strength and 6 metre board length, with BG claiming it makes a perfect match for the large wall and ceiling panels of the house.

More than 1500m2 of Glasroc Rigidur board was used in total for the project, including 12.5mm thickness for lining external walls and partitions, and 15mm thickness for the single span ceiling panels.

Roofing

roofing company Protan are also introducing a brace of new products to their line. The two roofing systems, Provac and Prosip, are described by Protan as “zero waste, solvent free recyclable solutions”.

Provac is a prefabricated vacuum roofing system with a minimum 30 year lifespan, whilst Prosip is a prefabricated long span roofing solution that Protan are marketing towards airports, schools, and leisure facilities.

Green calculators an computers

Across the Atlantic, Canon Canada are introducing the “Green Calculator Line”, a range of five calculator models made from recycled photocopier parts. The calculators are all solar powered, use mercury free lithium batteries, and are packaged in boxes made from recycled paper. The devices are on sale across Canada now.

Smart Client manufacturers Cranberry claim that research shows that by using a secure and efficient computer you could offset CO2 emissions equivalent to one 150 minute business flight a year. Accordingly, they’ve launched the SC20, an energy efficient alternative to the traditional desktop computer. he SC20 is the size of a paperback book, and consumes, on average, 9 watts of power an hour. It also comes with management software that will turn off unused powered-on devices overnight.