Jean Marie Villamor Juanga
University of the Philippines, Philippines
Title: Exploring the use of Agro Bio-Waste cellulosic fibres as a potential drywall panel board material for sustainable building use
Biography
Biography: Jean Marie Villamor Juanga
Abstract
This research explored the potential use biowaste cellulosic fibers as drywall panel board (DB) as construction material. The cellulosic fiber used in this study were primarily extracted from rice and banana crops agro-wastes which are highly cultivated in Philippines, other wastes used came from paper and carton boards. These biowaste products contribute to the environmental and climate change problems but can be mitigated by converting these wastes for productive reuse. In this experiment, the thermal conductivity (k value) and thermal resistivity (R-value) were determined. The materials tested were plaster of Paris as binder and perlite powder as fillers with respect to plaster/perlite/fiber ratio using percentage by weight, there were six (6) formulations used in the study, namely plaster of Paris (P-1), plaster of Paris and perlite (P-2), waste paper and rice straw (WR), waste paper and banana fiber (WB), rice straw and banana fiber (RB) and waste paper, rice straw and banana fiber (WRB). The R-following values were obtained for each formulation during testing: P-1 (0.36 h-ft2-°F/BTU), P-2 (0.49 h-ft2-°F/BTU), WR (0.83 h-ft2-°F/BTU), WB (0.67 h-ft2-°F/BTU), RB (0.88 h-ft2-°F/BTU), and WRB (0.68 h-ft2-°F/BTU). Moisture and water absorption were also determined. Among six (6) formulations, RB showed significant results having an R value of 0.88 h-ft2-°F/BTU when compared with commercially available drywall boards. The common drywall boards in the market have the following R-values: fiber-cement board (0.19 h-ft2-°F/BTU), hardboard (0.69 h-ft2-°F/BTU), ordinary plywood (0.62 h-ft2- °F/BTU), medium-density particle board (0.52 h-ft2-°F/BTU) and gypsum wallboard (0.45 h-ft2-°F/BTU). In theory, a higher R-value means that the material can lower the amount of heat gain inside the room. Hence, the material is energy efficient. Moreover, properties of the material such as acoustical capacity, fire resistivity and water absorption can be further explored.