Papercrete, a blend of Portland cement, minerals, clay, water, and waste paper products, is a cheap and eco-friendly building material that can be used for affordable, energy-efficient housing. It is 80% air, has a high R-value of insulation, and is soundproof. However, it must be treated with a protective coating, can remove moisture from soil, and has little information about its long-term viability and safety. Its current use is limited to areas with low rainfall and hot, dry climates.
In an ongoing search for natural or sustainable building materials, a previously fringe building material called papercrete has become more popular in recent years. Also called fiber cement or padobe, papercrete is a blend of Portland cement, minerals, clay, water, and a generous supply of waste paper products such as cardboard and junk mail. A large blender combines all of these ingredients into a thick slurry, or essentially industrial grade paper mache.
Adding a small amount of Portland cement, which acts primarily as a binder, negates some of the environmental “greenness” of papercrete, but the paper fibers themselves wouldn’t provide much stability or strength as a building material. Papercrete slurry can be poured onto forms or castings in the same manner as standard concrete, or it can be formed into large bricks such as adobe or concrete.
Papercrete is not an ideal building material, but it can be created very cheaply from readily available materials and used to build affordable, energy-efficient housing. Papercrete is 80% air, making it much lighter than standard concrete. It also has a fairly high R-value of insulation, and the thickness of a papercrete wall also makes it remarkably soundproof. Papercrete is also able to handle different types of anchor bolts and screws.
There are other benefits of papercrete to consider. The finished material can absorb significant amounts of moisture without cracking or collapsing, making it a promising choice for roofing. Rainwater is absorbed into the papercrete during inclement weather, then released into the atmosphere through evaporation as the roof dries. The bricks and shapes can also be created by amateur builders with home-made equipment, another cost-saving benefit.
However, Papercrete has some disadvantages. The material must be treated with a protective coating before it can be used to form walls or other exposed features. Papercrete walls also tend to remove moisture from the soil, creating an ideal environment for mold to grow. Papercrete is fire retardant, but not entirely fire retardant. It is so new as a “green” building material, that there is little information about its long-term viability and safety. Continued exposure to the elements or aging of the materials used in its creation could pose major problems for papercrete homeowners 20 to 30 years into the future.
In short, papercrete shows a lot of promise as a safer and more environmentally friendly building material. Its current use appears to be limited to areas with low annual rainfall and very hot, dry climates, such as Arizona and New Mexico.
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