[Greenbuilding] [BULK] FW: Plywood Off Gassing

[John Messerschmidt]

Lawrence,
I read about using exterior plywood in the last month on-list, and will
definitely use it from now on.  First though, I have to use up the few
boards I have.  I could buy AFM Safecoat Safe Seal and Hard Seal, but I was
wondering if paint or poly would do as a sealant, short term.  I'm a
contractor, educating conventional architects and clients, and would like to
give them some practical choices.

Also, I've heard people mentioning a long or short "curve" - meaning a graph
showing how much VOC's diminish over time for certain products.  Where could
I find these curves?  Wouldn't it be interesting and useful information?

Thanks



-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Lile [mailto:LLile at projsolco.com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 4:49 PM
To: John Messerschmidt; greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: RE: [BULK] [Greenbuilding] FW: Plywood Off Gassing

Plywood and chipboard with exterior based glue do not offgas
signifigantly.  I'd spec exterior glue materials even on the interior.
The interior stuff uses urea formaldehyde, but the exterior stuff uses
phenol formaldehyde that the USGBC says doesn't cause much IAQ problem.
You might research this with your particular supplier to learn more -
suppliers are catching on and reacting.  

All off-gassing materials start off heavy and diminish over time.
Another poster has recommended some sealants, but I say it is better to
eliminate the source.  

--Lawrence Lile