NEW KID ON CAMPUS: The Composite Eco-Friendly Particleboard Panel Associationsm ngineered wood producers have been country to use certified wood products in its CPA providing viable eco-friendly choices to end construction, according to Wade Mosby, vice The Composite Panel Association (CPA) brings users for decades. Composite panel products president of marketing for Collins Companies. together 34 North American producers of are produced almost exclusively from residual “The use of certified wood in this building is particleboard, medium density fiberboard and other Ewood from sawmills and wood processing plants — one way that our institutional commitment to both compatible products, representing 85 percent of allowing more than 95 percent of a harvested tree to protect the environment and conserve natural U.S./Canadian production capacity. be used. In contrast, only about 63 percent of the tree resources is translated into action,” said David Serving as both industry beacon and advocate, can be used to make solid lumber, according to a Ginevan, Middlebury College treasurer. The $47 the CPA represents the composite panel/engineered study done by the USDA Forest Service. million science facility is scheduled to open on the wood industry on technical, environmental, quality Now composite panel producers may choose Vermont campus this fall (1999). assurance and product acceptance issues. to have the source of their products certified by Particleboard will be used on shelving in all Historically, the Association has been a vital the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), further the offices as well as on casework in the hallways, resource for both producers and users of industry assuring end-users of the products’ environmental making up over 60 percent of the building’s interior products. The CPA , as an ANSI accredited standards benefits. FSC, founded in 1993, is an independent, board, according to Tony Nigro, project manager developer, writes and publishes industry product non-governmental, international organization that for the Anthony Galluzzo Corporation, Architecture standards. It also participates in the standards accredits third-party certifiers and promotes an Millwork, the 25-year-old New Hampshire development work of ASTM and others, sponsors international set of forest stewardship standards. company executing the new building’s interior. product acceptance activities and works with federal The FSC logo on a product tells buyers their “We’re working with the product for the first agencies and model building code bodies. In addition, purchase supports forestry that meets the highest time and the reaction is that it provides an standards for environmentally and socially extremely workable core, with very good it conducts product-testing and third-party responsible forest management. consistency and integrity,” Nigro says. “There’s very certification programs and helps manufacturers create Recently, Collins Products LLC in Klamath little variation in the thickness of the material, in-plant quality-control programs. Falls, Oregon, introduced an FSC-certified which is critical in the fabrication of the end Outreach and education are also prime goals of particleboard manufactured with residuals from component, and it has excellent screw-holding the CPA. The association conducts seminars to assist Collins’ self-sustaining forests. ability and overall cohesiveness.” specifiers, manufacturers and other users of The new product has already graduated to the Worldwide awareness of ecological issues is composite panels. It produces technical bulletins on college level. Approximately 35,000 square feet of proving to be the mother of invention for installation and usage of particleboard and MDF, and Collins’ particleboard are currently being milled for environmentally friendly products available from develops publications, videos and other materials to the interior of Middlebury College’s Bicentennial composite panel manufacturers throughout inform key audiences about the attributes of industry Hall, the largest academic project of its kind in the North America. products. Current publications include Particleboard From Start To Finish, MDF From Start To Finish, MDF Standards, Particleboard Standards, a 1999 Buyers Middlebury College’s Bicentennial Hall, the largest and Specifiers Guide and a series of Technical Bulletins. academic project in the U.S. to use certified wood products, includes 35,000 square feet of FSC-certified The CPA also supports the Composite Wood particleboard. Council, which includes in its membership furniture and cabinet manufacturers, equipment suppliers and CPA members. The mission of the 180-member council is to communicate the attributes of engineered wood products to a broader audience, which includes consumers.

WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU

e welcome ideas from our readers and encourage you to contact us with information © Middlebury College or leads regarding applications, Winstallations and newsworthy uses of composite panel products by architects, A Greener Alternative: builders and manufacturers. We also invite your queries for further MDF Core Paneling information on any of the companies, products or processes mentioned in our performance alternative to lauan Lauan is also subject to swings articles. And we’d like to know of others substrate paneling,” says Mark in the import market, making its in your company who would be Atkins, group manager of sales and pricing difficult to predict and interested in receiving this newsletter marketing for the Industrial Wood manage. Since MDF paneling is twice each year. Products Division of Georgia- produced domestically, its supply is Pacific Corporation, a major consistent, helping to make it a USA producer of wall paneling and lower-cost, readily available Composite Panel Association supplier of MDF paneling. The alternative to lauan paneling. 18928 Premiere Court Atlanta-based company built a plant MDF paneling also offers Gaithersburg, MD 20879 in Monticello, Georgia, in 1996 to outstanding performance and consistent Phone 301/670-0604

© Georgia-Pacific Corporation © Georgia-Pacific manufacture the thin MDF product. high quality, according to Atkins. Fax 301/840-1252 MDF core paneling — a prefinished Though still popular in the “The product provides excellent CANADA thin paneling substrate — is making marketplace, lauan wood is primarily thickness control and its surface is Composite Panel Association its mark as an environmentally harvested in Indonesia, Malaysia and tight and smooth, with no Association des fabricants de panneaux conscious product. Brazil and converted into veneer for imperfections, core laps or voids, de composites “The emergence of thin MDF plywood lay up. MDF paneling, on making it superior to lauan for 4612 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest production in North America has the other hand, is manufactured from printing or laminating,” Atkins says. Westmount, Quebec H3Z 1S3 created the opportunity for an residuals and converted into an “MDF paneling also cuts, machines, Phone 514/989-1002 economical, ecologically sound, high- engineered wood panel. grooves and paints better than lauan.” Fax 514/989-9318

INTERNET WEB SITE www.pbmdf.com