PureBond Plywood Evaluation

PureBond refers to the technology used by Columbia Forest Products to manufacture urea formaldehyde-free plywood by replacing the bonding agents with a non-toxic, soy-based alternative.  Columbia is North America’s largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer.

utilitycollective.com

notalker.com

This adhesive is derived from food-grade soy flour and a wet strength resin used in printed currency and milk cartons.  Columbia's formaldehyde-free decorative panels are also compliant with the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, earning one point for LEED's EQ Credit 4.4 for Low-Emitting Materials: Composite Wood, and satisfy the emissions standards of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Phase 2 regulations.  PureBond plywood is  cost-competitive with the standard UF construction of most decorative veneer-core hardwood plywood that are available and in some cases PureBond is less expensive than many other no-added-formaldehyde alternatives currently available.  Additionally, PureBond is even more water resistant than UF panels – approaching the requirements for Type I, or waterproof performance.  PureBond panels have also out-performed UF bonded panels in all moisture degradation tests.

 

Columbia Forest Products states that they use "sustainable harvesting practices" to help ensure the "long-term health of forested property", recycle scrap for fuel in their furnaces, and sell residual material to others who use it for mulch or other products.
The Green Parent List, a network of scientists and engineers who are also parents, have endorsed this product as Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) remains the main culprit for childhood asthma.  By eliminating added formaldehyde families can reduce their VOC exposure in the home.  Also, as the first building product to receive the Green Parents’ List Healthy Home check mark, the PureBond Plywood has zero VOC, especially no formaldehyde, a well known respiratory and skin irritant, especially to children.

In terms of obtaining PureBond plywood locally there is wide availability as Home Depot is one of the distributors for many varieties of the product.  Transportation of materials within the United States is lessened due to harvesting and manufacture occurring exclusively in the U.S.  Additional 825 cabinet shops and furniture manufacturer have partnered with Columbia Forest Products to provide that option in their services.

There are a wide range of wood species utilized as veneer for the hardwood plywood product including exotic species native to countries throughout the world.  While domestic species represent a more sustainable choice, veneers do lessen the impact of harvesting.  While not implemented with all of the Columbia harvesting practices certain hardwood veneer options can also be specified to use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified materials.  Thus far, and quite possibly for the foreseeable future, bamboo has arisen as a very sustainable "hardwood" material.  This grass is highly renewable and can be grown in many areas of the world.  It is extremely durable as well and therefore is an ideal choice for flooring or many other applications.  Due to the variety of sub-species of bamboo there are also some very interesting options for coloration and grain patterning.

An evaluation of the actual sustainability of this product can be assessed using the following set of generally accepted criteria:

Transportation:   

Because the product's content is grown and produced in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. its transportation distance is limited somewhat.  It does require transportation to distribution centers across the country but because it is sold by Home Depot it is easily obtained by many consumers.  

Pre-Consumer Recycled Content:

Wood pulp and scrap wood are somewhat utilized in the production of the plywood and scrap wood waste is used to fuel manufacturing furnaces.

Post-Consumer Recycled Content:

In some applications, such as cabinetry and wall paneling, the material can be strategically removed to be repurposed and due to its composition of natural materials it can be recycled into base materials for new wood products.

CO2 (Greenhouse Gas) Emission:

This may be one of the least effective aspects of this particular material.  CO2 outputs continue to be realized through harvesting, transportation, and manufacture of the product.

Toxicity:

Off-gassing of this type of material is greatly reduced, if not negated by the use of natural materials (soybeans and wood components) although some wood species inherently emit low level toxins.

Durability:

I see no reason why there would be any short term degradation of quality if implemented correctly.  Flooring application would be most susceptible to deterioration.  Its water resistant characteristics would make it a more durable alternative to conventional plywoods.

Maintenance:

Should not require much, if any, maintenance for most applications.

Packaging:

Packaging of product to be shipped is most likely minimal although when I requested sample pieces to be sent they arrived individually wrapped in cellophane and boxed fairly elaborately.

Environmentally Responsible Company:

While Columbia Forest Products is a major manufacturing company with some environmental responsibility challenges to address by the nature of their size, they should probably be given credit for taking a lead on pursuing this technology.  They could have easily not confronted this but in doing so will have a significant impact on responsible forestry and harvesting techniques.  Also, by offering the product at a cost-effective price it will hopefully become the standard for this type of material.

Learning Outcomes

Through studies completed in response to a sustainable building materials exploration course, I have become more knowledgeable in these areas:

• Materials research in identifying categories (LEED/CSI) of design and construction uses such as masonry, wood/plastics/composites, concrete, metals, thermal & moisture protection, finishes, etc.     

• Determining general materials that correspond to these categories and how they can contribute and be integrated into a complete building system.  Accomplished by accessing the LEED and CSI specifications and understanding how they segregate materials and with LEED, then assign a points rating.

• Determining specific materials and products that are available within these general materials groups by accessing various websites.  These included: greenbuildingpages.com, greenbuildingsupply.com, the National Institute of Building Sciences, jetsongreen.com, buildinggreen.com, as well as blogs and other sites that explore possibilities for reclaiming and/or salvaging materials to be repurposed.

• Understanding how to establish a criteria for evaluating materials for their sustainability.  By looking at various established systems for analyzing "green" materials I was able to identify the most significant characteristics that were valued.  These appear to be pre-consumer recycled content, post-consumer recycled content, toxicity, packaging, transportation, durability, maintenance, and greenhouse gas emissions.  Most all of these factors can be evaluated in the various stages of the materials life cycle.  From natural resource and mineral extraction, transportation to production facility, the manufacturing energy needed and emissions produced, transportation to distribution locations, transportation to building sites, machinery needed to install, lifespan of materials, recycling of used materials, and waste produced.  There are many ways to evaluate and interpret the sustainability of building materials.  There seems to almost always be a cost/benefit relationship with an individual material and even more so when multiple materials are being used in the same application and their characteristics can work for and against each other.

• Established a format for evaluation of materials criteria in order to quantify information gathered.  By inputting all data into a spreadsheet document findings could be more easily understood and graded by parameters listed.

• Identified established furnishings that have an interesting design concept but may not utilize sustainable materials in their construction.  Documented materials used in these items and successes and failures where applicable.  Proposed alternative solutions for the implementation of materials to execute the chosen designs.

Furniture Design: Material Alternatives

Products offered by Design Within Reach include: a media credenza (solid walnut frame, walnut veneer over masonite); a 5-drawer cabinet (ebony & oak veneer); and a coffee table (solid walnut frame; solid ply tabletop with walnut veneer).

http://www.dwr.com/

http://www.dwr.com/

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In looking at the sustainability and environmental impact of the materials used in these products, here is an itemized analysis:

• solid walnut - Good material choice in terms of minimal off-gassing and/or toxicity. Can be a sustainable material if farmed/harvested responsibly or reclaimed from another use, which I'm guessing isn't the case here.
• walnut veneer - Same environmental and sustainability characteristics, although an ever better alternative to solid walnut in that there is less material needed to accomplish a similar look. This can only be a better alternative though if the substrate used is a green product.
• masonite - I can't seem to located any reliable information of sustainable qualities that it might have or its composition. It does contain formaldehyde which is a health risk. It is not recyclable or easily reusable and therefore contributes to landfill waste.
• ebony & oak veneer - Same qualities of all veneers in using less wood resources although oak is relatively plentiful, especially when farmed for harvesting purposes. Ebony is a much more endangered species, so even used in a veneer application is unsustainable.
• plywood - Unless otherwise specified this most likely contains formaldehyde. Plywood is in another sense fairly sustainable as it is comprised of scrap wood and pulp.

 An armoire offered by Copenhagen Furniture is apparently constructed of either teak or cherry wood veneer over an unspecified backing material with an acrylic lacquer finish.

http://copenhagen.dyndns.org/

In looking at the sustainability and environmental impact of the materials used in this product, here is an itemized analysis:

• teak & cherry wood veneer - Again, veneers in general are a good choice but these two species of wood are not the most sustainable option, especially teak wood.
• acrylic lacquer finish - Most likely a high VOC based finish and therefore will off-gas for a considerable amount of time and release toxic chemicals affecting indoor air quality.

 Products offered by IKEA include: a bed frame (particleboard, fiberboard, ash veneer, and acrylic paint); kitchen cabinetry (solid pine, stain, clear polyurethane/acrylic lacquer, particleboard, melamine foil, fiberboard, and acrylic paint); and a children's table (solid pine, stain, clear acrylic lacquer).

http://www.ikea.com/

http://www.ikea.com/

http://www.ikea.com/

In looking at the sustainability and environmental impact of the materials used in these products, here is an itemized analysis:

• particle board - Not a good choice at all, full of formaldehyde, very high indoor toxicity, and not recyclable.
• fiberboard - Again, generally full of formaldehyde as a binding agent, but certain types of fiberboard can be considered "green" building products. Consisting of bio-based, secondary raw materials (wood chip or sugarcane fibers) recovered from within 100 miles (160 km) of manufacturing facilities, the binding agent used in this type of fiberboard is an all-natural product, consisting of vegetable starch containing no added formaldehydes.
• ash veneer - A good choice for a veneer species. Highly abundant and easily accepts stains.
• acrylic paint - A synthetic product that requires heavy reliance on natural resources and produces much waste. Relatively high VOC ratings which affect indoor air quality.
• solid pine - Abundant species of wood but can produce low level off-gassing of toxins.
• polyurethane - Most likely an oil-based urethane and therefore has a high VOC rating. 
• melamine - A formaldehyde-based resin used as a laminate generally over particle board or fiber board. Not good.

Materials that might serve as more sustainable and environmentally sound alternatives to the ones used in the furnishings listed are:

• Any hardwood listed as "FSC-Certified" and therefore grown and harvested sustainably. Most U.S. domestic hardwoods have no to low levels of off-gassing. Veneers do consume less wood but the trade-off might be in the production energy needed to manufacture it. As with all products, keeping the production and transportation needs close to the farms is a better option.
• Formaldehyde-free plywoods that use soy-based or other organic binders are now becoming more readily available and the cost of these products is in some instances competitive with conventional plywood. There are FSC-Certified hardwood species that can be applied as veneers and bamboo in particular is a very sustainable grass/wood that can be used. Bamboo is also available in a variety of sub-species that are unique and attractive.
• Water-based urethanes and natural polymerized finishes are becoming more available also. Drawbacks are that the price of these products is quite a bit more than oil-based substitutes and the curing times can be significantly longer.
• Textile options were not shown above but there are good, sustainable options for those applications as well. There are fabrics for upholstery, fibers for lattice, and carpeting and flooring options that can be much more environmentally friendly. Many use high percentages of post-consumer recycled content and have a lessened impact on natural resources.

Spreadsheet Evaluation of Materials Researched