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Houses made of straw an earth-friendly trend

By Li Fangfang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-30 08:02

"Using straw instead of wood to produce panel boards will also help protect forests and farms. The results of producing OSSB will not only be the recycling of resources, but also will promote economic and sustainable development, especially in the countryside," Leendertse said.

Statistics show that China currently produces about 200 million tons of useful fiber straw annually, but that less than 10 percent is used.

Most of the wheat and rice straw is burned, creating toxins that are detrimental to health and the environment, he said.

"This program anticipates the transformation of 40,000 tons of wheat straw into usable panel boards, thus decreasing the release of carbon dioxide," Leendertse said.

"Also, as farmers reuse the wheat straw, they will have an additional income, thus helping to benefit rural economic growth and promoting a solution for the Chinese government's Sannong issue, or three agricultural problems," he said.

Leendertse said straw houses will create employment opportunities to improve the standard of living of farmers, help regional governments become more energy-efficient and improve sustainable agricultural production.

"Another benefit of the OSSB house is that when you get home, it takes you only five to ten minutes to warm up the house," Leendertse said.

OSSB uses a year's supply of agricultural waste material as raw material, relying on specialized OSSB technologies to create its panel board products.

OSSB boards also can be used in packaging, renovation, furnishing and flooring sectors, he said.

Another goal is to build low-cost housing units using OSSB Panel Boards in combination with light-gauge steel.

He added that his homes have a very short construction time of about four days per house.

Leenderste is planning to build two additional plants this year in China: one in Yangling and the other in eastern Henan province.

The company plans to build 23 more OSSB plants next year, he said.

"We will set up OSSB plants step by step in the future, all in China's major wheat planting regions in Hebei, Henan, Shandong and Shaanxi provinces," he said.

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