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Green Building Discussion
Topic: Agriboard straw-fiber panels
Discussion Participants:
- Darrel DeBoer asks after Agriboard and Stramit
- Bill Christensen met them at Austin
- Eric Hart on how to get through
- Robert Tom with a note from the agri-fiber forum
- Nadav Malin spots 'em
- Bob Manning from Agriboard responds
All postings are the opinion of the writer, and BuildingGreen can
take no responsibility for their accuracy or appropriateness.
Darrel DeBoer asks after Agriboard and Stramit
From: DDarrelD@aol.com
Sent: Friday, November 08, 1996 4:10 PM
I have been trying to get hold of Agriboard Industries for the past several weeks to get more information on their compressed straw stressed skin panels. Anyone know if they might not still exist? I've been trying the number 515-472-0363 in Fairfield Iowa.
While I'm on the subject of the deceasedness of strawboard manufacturers: with Stramit gone, who is still alive in the interior wall system production business? I know Wil Maertens has had a tough time of it with his Bio-Fab company in northern CA, mostly because of his having spent some time in intensive care lately.
Darrel DeBoer, architect
Top of fileBill Christensen met them at Austin
From: greenbuilding Conference @ txinfinet.com
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 1996 12:30 AM
I talked with the Agriboard folks today at Day 1 of the Green Building Conference in Austin. They do still exist, have a booth here, and as far as I know that is still the correct phone number. I'll check with them tomorrow. Bill Thompson of Agriboard told me today that they're running a bit behind their expected schedule but now expect to be in production in January or so. I'm sure the Texas drought didn't help the straw crop this year, either (their plant will be in the Dallas area.)
Bill Christensen billc@txinfinet.com Green Building Conference Nov. 7-10 http://www.greenbuilder.com/conference/
Eric Hart on how to get through
From: Eric D. Hart
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 1996 3:19 PM
Last I knew (in May) Agriboard Industries would only talk to architects and builders. Several people I have talked to (who aren't builders or architects) wrote them repeatly but never heard back. I talked to an architect here and he said he was able to talk to somebody and get lots of info since he said he was an architect. If you have been leaving messages, maybe if you mention that you are an architect maybe that would get a response. Otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised if they were having trouble. They seemed to be focused on doing whole houses with their OSB/strawboard panels, not selling individual panels. That seems to be a pretty narrow focus and I'm not sure there's a huge market for it.
To quote myself from a message I sent to this list last week: "I have done some research lately on straw panels and it appears that Pacific Gold Board is the only United States manufacturer. Pierce International told me that they were constructing a plant in southern Idaho that would be online next spring. When I left a message at Stramit (in Texas) they apparently passed my name and phone number along to Pierce International. I'm not positive that Pacific Gold Board is the only US manufacturer but its the only one that I could find that would sell straw panels."
Eric D. Hart Community Eco-design Network Minneapolis, MN USA (612) 305-2899 erichart@mtn.org http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m037/kurtdand/cen
Robert Tom with a note from the agri-fiber forum
From: Robert W. Tom[SMTP:be417@freenet.carleton.ca]
Sent: Sunday, November 10, 1996 11:18 AM
Perhaps I can redeem myself by reposting the following article which was recently submitted by Habib Gonzales. Apolologies in advance to those who may have already seen it. ---- * --- Date: Sat Nov 9 12:56:30 1996 From: habibg@netidea.com (Habib John Gonzalez) Subject: Agri-Fibre Forum: Stramit & Beyond (Long) To: strawbale@crest.org
About 60 people attended the Agri-Fibre Forum sponsored by WSU Cooperative Extension in Spokane yesterday. A series of speakers described fibre pulp products and processes made from "waste" straw from bluegrass seed and wheat production in the Eastern Washington-Northern Idaho region.
Eugene Davis of International Resources Unlimited ((514)344-9454), IRUGROUP@aol.com)-is a consultant to a client producing a wheat/ryegrass based fibreboard, recently tested in England. The binder and process have been worked out and they are crunching numbers to find a source of raw materials and site.
Paul Peterson of the Washington State University Extension Faculty showed a video he made of Al Wong's vegetable fibre paper pulp plant in Vulcan, Alberta. Wong is setting up production facilities to handle long and short fibre sent to him from all over western Canada, Idaho, eastern Washington and California. His process handles rice, wheat, bluegrass etc. without acids or bleaches. The "bleaching" is done with hydrogen peroxide and potassium based chemicals which are completely recovered and reused. The plant has no sewer being a closed system. What comes out is pulp and fertilizer (final residue salts from washing and drying). For details contact: Canadian Flax Pulp, (604)322-1317 or http://www.agripulp.com
Bill Ruddick of Business Diagnostics is finishing a study on a strawboard plant for the eastern Washington area. Unlike the more expensive chipboard factories, a straw fibre plant costs "only" $15 million. The plant will serve farmers within a 35 mile radius of the plant, pay about $35 a ton for straw and give investors a 20% return. The process uses an isocyanate binder but the plant has "little" emissions. Ruddick can be contacted at (206)780-1205.
Bill Asher, ((208)773-2468), represents Harj Fiber which is producing a wheatstraw line of products made in combination with recycled plastics and a non-toxic soybean protein binder. The strawboard, pipe and extrusions are waterproof, and completely recyclable, over-runs are thrown back into the plant and made into something else. The Netherlands government is using Harj Fiber to build dykes, my Dutch wife was underwhelmed with the news.
The Mutual Materials Brick Factory of eastern Washington, has given 17 acres of their land to Bio-Energy Enterprises to build a straw fed methane plant. The brickworks will use all the plant's gas production and the residue is sold as potting soil. The plant will be in full production by next fall. Leon Breckenridge of Bio-Energy can contacted at (509)922-1170. [ snip ] -- Rob Tom ---------- * ------------ be417@FreeNet.Carleton.ca Kanata, Ontario, Canada
Nadav Malin spots 'em
From: Nadav@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, November 10, 1996 8:54 AM
I've just seen Bill Thompson of Agriboard at two different conferences this week. He's definitely working actively to drum up interest, so it's odd that they aren't returning calls. He did say that their manufacturing equipment is now five months behind schedule, so they may be stretched pretty thin in terms of resources. They're hoping to receive the equipment next month.
Nadav
Environmental Building News: http://www.buildinggreen.com Return address: nadav@buildinggreen.com
Bob Manning from Agriboard responds
From: Robert Manning
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 8:47 PM
This is from Bob Manning. I'm an investor in Agriboard Industries,(AI), as well as a technical adviser to the company. I saw a November email discussion on the company and on agricultural fiber products in general, and thought a couple of clarifications might be worthwhile to those interested in the company and the product.
Bill Thompson was surprised to hear that anyone has had difficulty contacting him. He can normally be reached at his Fairfield telephone (515) 472 0363, by Fax at (515) 472 0018, or by email at agriboard@lisco.com. When he is away,you should be able to leave a message for him at that number.
Delivery of the mill, designed by Agriboard Industries with major improvements from earlier versions of compressed straw fiber machines, and fabricated by Raytheon, was in fact delivered several months later than planned. The mill and the rest of the production equipment is now in place, however, and test runs are scheduled to begin in a matter of days at the company's plant in Electra Texas. Company management is very upbeat about the company's future prospects.
To avoid confusion, it should be noted that the name Agriboard is a registerd trademark of Agriboard Industries, and not a generic description of a product or product type. It can be used legally only with reference to the Agriboard Industries product, and with the notation that it is a registered trademark of that company.
I'm sure Bill Thompson would be glad to hear from anyone interested in applications and availability of the product.
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