To better understand the integral quality of home’s structure, inspecting its unseen parts will usually tell the best story. Try structural sheathing, for instance. Is it plywood, particleboard, or some other concoction? What glues or chemicals were used? Does it contain formaldehyde?
OX Engineered Products, a division of OX Paperboard, specializes in a line of exterior wall products that warrant examination.
Nikki Schroeder, vice president marketing and communications at OX, believes a growing number of homebuilding customers are looking for as many safe and energy efficient options as possible when it comes to building. “We like to say we were green before it was cool to be green,” says Schroeder.
Thermo-ply Structural Sheathing, an innovative sheathing product, has been in the market for almost three decades. But many people haven’t heard of it, unless they’re in Texas or Michigan, two large markets for this high-performance alternative to wood structural panels.
According to Schroeder, Thermo-ply is manufactured using 99 percent of recycled paperboard. “It’s a really great opportunity to build strong while building green,” she adds. Importantly, the product contains no VOCs or formaldehydes.
“What’s really awesome about Thermo-ply is kind of the all-in-one nature of it,” said Schroeder. “It’s a structural sheathing but also has the built-in water resistant quality and an air barrier. So you’re getting that air barrier seals to the stud in a way that OSB can’t.”
In January, 2013, OX Engineered Products acquired the assets of the former DOW Chemical plant in Charleston, IL. The 151,000 square foot facility will house the production lines which manufacture Styrofoam SIS brand building products as well as support the supply chain for its Thermo-Ply Brands of structural building products.
OX will also add paper converting capacity at the facility which will support its 100% recycled paper mills located Halltown, WV and Constantine, MI.
OX Engineered Products manufactures Thermo-ply and STYROFOAM SIS Brand Structural Insulated Sheathing.
OX Paperboard is a leader in the manufacturing of recycled paperboard and custom converted mill products producing over 100,000 tons of paperboard per year made for 100 percent recycled fiber at its plants in Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
