R-Control

From an article in today's (August 22, 1999) paper about R Control panels, offered by Team Industries.

Team Industries, part owner of the national company Advance Foam Plastics Inc., makes R Control Structural Building panels for placement in basements, walls and roofs. The units resemble giant sandwiches, or oversize Oreo cookies. Each panel is made of engineered wood facings adhesively welded to expanded polystyrene insulation. Combined, these elements create a monolithic, or one piece, structure that the manufacturer says is strong and resilient. R control panel houses have survived hurricanes in Florida and earthquakes in Japan while nearby buildings crumbled. In Coopersville, the home of Larry and Valerie VanZomeren, reinforced with R control paneling, sustained only light damage during windstorms exceeding 125 mph, and that damage was caused by trees going through windows.

The big sandwich panels range in sizes from 4 by 8 feet to 8 by 24 feet. Widths offer a choice from 4 1/2 inches to 12 1/4 inches. The inside foam of the R Control panels is like a styrofoam cup with higher density said Joe Ellsworth, part owner of Controlled Environmental Structures in Greenville, MI. The whole thing is basically a big box...there's nothing to break apart. R Control homes usually are heated with nothing more than a standard hot water heater, equipped with an air handler. Heating costs run about $40 a month during the coldest months of winter. An R panel is 60 styrofoam coffee cups thick. It retains its R value pretty much forever. The technology has been around since 1935 and there is an Experimental sandwich building intact for the past 35 years on the University of Wisconsin campus. Cost is comparable to wood structures... and it's non toxic.

Team Industries is a dealer for R-Control. R-Control Building Systems is located at:

24000 W. Highway 7, Suite 201
Excelsior, MN 55331
Fax 612-474-2074
Phone 877-726-6876

AFM Corporation of Excelsior, MN, manufacturers of R-Control panels (the thick core of rigid expanded polystyrene insulation adhesively welded between stranded lumber facings to form a structural panel that will not twist or warp) state that their normal structure, which is the panels with a foundation and normal roof, have withstood the Kobe earthquake, and are rated to withstand 180 mph winds. They are very much against steel instead of wood. Steel uses 9 times the energy of wood in manufacturing and is not a renewable resource. There are manufacturers out there who do something similar to what they do with steel for refrigerated and/or frozen buildings. These would cost a great deal more!

Offered by John.

My understanding is this material puts out gas for many years. If this does not give a sick house syndrome then the material could be quite useful for interior room constructions - say inside a large dome.

Offered by Mike.