May 2 2005
G-P Gypsum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific Corporation, recently announced that it will donate its DensArmor® Plus Interior Wallboard for the first EarthCraft green certified house in Greenville, S.C.
The house will be built by Upstate Forever and the Home Builders Association of Greenville. DensArmor Plus Interior Wallboard is a uniquely engineered moisture and mold resistant interior wallboard created with glass mats rather than paper. By removing the organic paper face and back found on standard wallboard and replacing both with glass mats, G-P Gypsum succeeded in developing the only paperless interior wallboard product offered in the market.
Whether visible or not, many homes have traces of mold in their wall cavities and in the air. The elimination of paper removes a know food source for mold. Therefore, mold is less likely to grow on DensArmor Plus. DensArmor Plus Interior Wallboard is ideal to replace regular wallboard in all applications, and especially appropriate for high moisture areas such as kitchens, basements and bathrooms.
“We whole-heartedly support green building. Georgia-Pacific has a continuing commitment to promote green homes and we are proud to help organizations like Upstate Forever find innovative solutions to green building challenges,” said Alan Thielemann, Georgia-Pacific’s vice president of marketing for building products.
Upstate Forever, an organization committed to promoting sensible growth Upstate in the ten Northwest counties of South Carolina, joined forces with the Home Builders Association and Southface Energy Institute to bring EarthCraft House building standards to South Carolina. Earthcraft House is a voluntary, market-driven green builder program that is sponsored by Southface, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, government and private industry partner. EarthCraft House serves as a blueprint for healthy, comfortable, affordable homes that result in reduced utility bills and less impact on air, water and other natural resources.
“Using EarthCraft standards can improve the quality of homes by utilizing products that are more environmentally friendly development. With G-P Gypsum’s generous donation of DensArmor Plus interior wallboard, we are not only meeting our environmental objectives but also will be able to build this first of its kind home in Greenville with wallboard that is resistant to both moisture and mold - a growing issue for home owners,” said Carlton Owen, chairman of Upstate Forever and the visionary behind the Upstate House project.
The EarthCraft house is being constructed on a “recycled” lot in Greenville’s Pettigru Historic District and is expected to be completed by October 1, 2005. It is located at 620 Pettigru Street and adjoins another parcel that will become the Upstate Woodland Garden, a public garden featuring native plants.
G-P Gypsum is a wholly owned subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific that manufactures and distributes gypsum products throughout North America. G-P Gypsum’s proven performance products include Dens-Glass Gold®, Dens-Shield®, Dens-Deck®, Dens-Glass® Ultra Shaftliner™ and ToughRock® wallboard.
Complete details on all of Georgia-Pacific’s gypsum products are available at www.gpgypsum.com . For detailed product information and to ensure technically accurate installations, the G-P Gypsum technical staff is readily available to answer customer questions. The G-P Gypsum Technical Hotline (800-225-6119) serves customers from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. For more information about G-P Gypsum, call the Technical Hotline or visit www.gpgypsum.com.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of tissue, packaging, paper, building products and related chemicals. With 2004 annual sales of approximately $20 billion, the company employs approximately 55,000 people at more than 300 locations in North Americaand Europe. Georgia-Pacific’s building products manufacturing business has long been among the nation’s leading supplier of building products to lumber and building materials dealers and large do-it-yourself warehouse retailers.
For more information, visit www.gp.com.