SUNNYVALE, CALIF.—Serious Materials announced that its EcoRock green drywall has been named the grand award winner for the green tech category in Popular Science’s Best of What’s New. The company adds this award to its growing list of honors including: voted No. 1 at Cleantech Venture Forum XII, Global Gypsum Product of the Year 2008, and winner of the first Aspen Institute award for innovation in Energy Conservation. Serious Materials has also been recognized by TIME/CNN, Fortune, Business Week, GreenTech Media and Red Herring as one of the most promising green technology companies.
EcoRock is used like standard gypsum drywall, but requires 80 percent less energy in its core production. Serious Materials has reengineered the drywall manufacturing process by eliminating heaters, dryers, calcining, and the burning of fossil fuels. Using EcoRock instead of gypsum drywall would eliminate up to 20 billion pounds of CO2 emissions per year in North America. EcoRock is mold-resistant, which supports improved indoor air quality, and generates less dust than gypsum drywall.
“For 20 years, Popular Science’s Best of What’s New awards have honored the innovations that have made a positive impact on life today and that have changed our views of the future,” says Mark Jannot, editor-in-chief of Popular Science. “PopSci’s editors evaluate thousands of products each year to develop this thoughtful list; there’s no higher accolade Popular Science can give.”
“The manufacturing of standard gypsum drywall has remained virtually unchanged since its invention more than 100 years ago when energy was cheap and the environmental impact was not understood,” said Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “EcoRock and our other advanced building materials—like ThermaProof windows and glass, and QuietRock soundproof drywall—are designed for superior performance today, without sacrificing the prosperity of tomorrow. We are truly honored to be recognized in our mission to reinvent the building materials industry and reduce worldwide CO2 emissions by one billion tons annually.”
Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year; breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant leap in their categories. The winners—the Best of What’s New—are awarded inclusion in the much-anticipated December issue of Popular Science, the most widely read issue of the year since the debut of Best of What’s New in 1987.
Go to Serious Materials.
