Will DOW Set a New Standard with Styrofoam-A?
A new insulating foam from Dow, called Styrofoam-A, is helping the U.K. construction industry meet the high standards of the Government-mandated Code for Sustainable Homes Global Warming Potential (GWP), within the categories of Energy Efficiency, Materials and Waste. How can a material like Styrofoam be “green”, you ask?. In an interesting example of the potential for carbon dioxide sequestration, recycled as well as naturally occurring Carbon dioxide is employed as a blowing agent to form the ubiquitous light blue extruded foam segments one sees on many construction sites. Like its less-green predecessor, the foam maintains the properties of lightness, rigidity, water resistance and superior cell density which make it such an effective insulator, certainly a plus as British standards for energy efficient structures become ever more stringent. An additional benefit of the foam is that it is 100% recyclable, which aids in keeping a construction site and and overall project, more sustainable.


on September 18th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
[…] from landfills. Note that methane is a greenhouse gas 23x stronger than carbon dioxide. . . . Dow’s Styrofoam-A Uses Carbon and Helps UK Home Builders Meet Environmental Codes - Nice application, but one wonders if this is in some way an internal product offset. After all, […]