Wednesday, December 27, 2006 New binderless coconut coir board developed for low-cost housing
SOARING prices of construction materials prevent many Filipinos from building decent homes, but local experts on forest products diligently work to find alternative materials that are easy on the pocket and at the same time environment friendly.
Dr. Dwight A. Eusebio of the Forest Products Research and Development Institute developed a coco coir board with unique binding property that's free of synthetic chemicals, adhesives or cement.
Designed for indoor paneling, the coco coir board is put together through milling and drying of coconut fibers and hot-press. Coconut husks pass through a milling machine's 2-mm screen and the fibers also pass through a dryer to attain moisture content of 8-10 percent.
Since there are no binders or chemicals used, production cost of the coco coir board is cheaper and translates to affordable selling price. The coco coir board comes in sizes such as 600mm x 1200mm (2ft x 4ft) and 900mm x 1800mm (3 ft x 6 ft) boards, the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development said. PCIERD provided funding support to the development of coco coir board.
Similar products in the market like particleboard, plywood, oriented strand board, and medium density fiberboard are bonded with petroleum-based resins like urea formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, and urea melamine formaldehyde or isocyanate.
On the other hand, cement bonded board or CBB like wood wool cement board, cement bonded particleboard or wood fiber cement composites are bonded with Portland cement.
The technology can be transferred through sale, royalty arrangement, demonstration and piloting, and training.
It is ready for diffusion, but for commercial production, specific tests like long-term termite and fungi resistance of the coco coir boards will still have to be determined.
If it will be used for exterior paneling or in rooms with high humidity, exposure test should also be done to determine its durability.
The product is technically described as a coco-coir binderless board with bio-based composite panel made up of 100% husk. It is pressed under heat and pressure. (Ma. Elena Talingdan-Tabangcura)
