(228b) ECOwall Systems - Using Recycled Paper for Interior Partition Systems In Commercial Buildings

An interdisciplinary design and research team involving faculty and students from Miami University’s departments of Architecture and Interior Design, Paper and Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering, and Marketing worked for a year on the development of new innovative approaches for using recycled paper in building related products and systems. This work was supported by an award from the Environmental Protection Agency, under their P3 Award Program – People, Prosperity and the Planet. The initial work concentrated on the design of modular paper based interior partition systems for commercial buildings.  While this application does have considerable potential, the ECO-wall system is just one idea for new cost effective ways to use post consumer waste to create large format paper based products. Building systems and components that hold promise for future research include the following.  

Interior furnishings or furniture components using molded high and intermediate density formed paper shapes,

Suspended ceiling tiles where more rigid tiles may be desired to create articulated coffered shapes or where better acoustic separation is desired,

Decorator interior wall tiles of standard patterns or customized designs using computerized numeric control (CNC) software to cut the mold faces,

Molded interior cornice details and decorative shapes,

Acoustic sound isolation panels for installation above suspended ceiling systems to control sound transmission between building zones or spaces