Art & Design
Watching a Master at Work: The Metro Ad ManMarch 31, 2009 – Antwoin Delph had positioned his stepladder just where he wanted it. Beside it was a little wheeled cart full of rolled-up tubes of vinyl. When Antwoin pulled a tube out, he looked like a golfer selecting a club.
Artists' Eco Message on New Canvas: BillboardsApril 22, 2008 – Artist Peter Schulberg calls it "de-vinyl intervention" when he discovered he could use recycled vinyl for his paintings.
King Finds Comfort in ColourApril 11, 2008 – The work shown in his sculptor Phillip King's latest exhibition, Living with Colour, is a new departure — in part the result of him discovering a new material to work with, foam PVC.
Jazzman Branford Marsalis Talks About Sting, the Importance of Vinyl and Building HousesApril 8, 2008 – Famed jazz musician Branford Marsalis says his record company, Marsalis Music, will soon produce vinyl records. "Anybody who's a serious audio fan knows that vinyl is better than CD."
Living Urban ArtMay 10, 2007 – The urban vinyl movement, just hitting the East Coast, features painting plain white vinyl doll figures. Fenelon’s commercial collections — a custom vinyl doll sells for $700 — are colorful and embrace fun themes from sci-fi to surfing.
Design Flexibility With PVC Roofing SystemsApril 30, 2007 – Determining the degree to which form follows function in a building project is always a balancing act, but with the right materials, aesthetics don’t have to take a back seat to all of the other critical considerations involved in designing a building envelope. Architects and specifiers who have selected PVC roofing membranes know it is not unusual for worry-free performance and complex roof curvatures or other stunning lines and details to converge on one project.
More...Energy Efficiency
Tax Credits Spur SalesMarch 31, 2009 – A provision in the federal stimulus package passed by Congress includes up to $1,500 in tax credits that two area windows and door manufacturers hope will spur new sales.
High-Performance Building With Energy-Efficient: Vinyl Roofs (Subscription Required)April 11, 2007 – In full sun, the surface of a black low-slope roof may experience a temperature rise of as much as 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (F), reaching midday temperatures of 150 to 190 F on a summer day. A white vinyl/PVC reflective roof on the same building typically increases only 10 to 25 degrees above ambient temperature under the same conditions. A differential of this magnitude begs the question: What makes one roofing material "cooler" than another?
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Environment
Home Renovation With Vinyl Siding Becomes State Energy ProjectARLINGTON, Mass., Dec. 5, 2008 – Using vinyl clapboard in a home make-over, a couple is gets state support and utility funding to test the effectiveness of innovative materials in saving energy.
JM Eagle Launches Partnership With H20 Africa to Help Address Water CrisisApril 14, 2008 – Plastic pipe manufacturer JM Eagle will be the official supplier of infrastructure materials to the H20 Africa Foundation, providing high-strength PVC piping products at cost, and commit $150,000 to the organization.
Centerport Church Hoping to Hold Back the TideApril 3, 2008 – Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, N.Y. is currently knee-deep in plans to install a 310-foot seawall, consisting of vinyl sheeting, in front of a failing ballast-rock barrier at the rear of its Prospect Road property.
What’s In a Name?Jan. 18, 2008 – Ask Philip Morris, the holding company for a tobacco producer who changed its name to the benign, sunny-sounding ‘Altria.’
The Vinyl Frontier: Dispelling Myths About PVC and SustainabilityAug. 2, 2007– Assessing the facts about polyvinyl chloride ends up dispelling myths about this oft-maligned, but invaluable polymer used extensively in packaging.
In Praise Of PVCJune 25, 2007 – Hazel Cook, contract marketing manager at Gerflor, challenges the view that, when it comes to floors, natural equals green.PVC may be man-made but, due to the highly efficient manufacturing processes and a continuous drive amongst responsible manufacturers to use ever cleaner processes, its green credentials stand up to stringent comparison even amongst so-called ‘natural’ flooring equivalents.
More...Health & Safety
Safe and SustainableJune 16, 2008 – The San Francisco Chronicle published a letter to the editor from Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore arguing that a proposed ban on PVC packaging is a “wrong-headed approach” with no scientific basis.
The Phthalates Scare: We Are Not at RiskMay 11, 2008 – Nobel Prize winning chemist William S. Knowles defends the use of phthalates in plastics.
Vinyl: Meeting the Changing Needs of the Healthcare MarketApril 3, 2008 – Vinyl (aka PVC or polyvinyl chloride) has been rigorously tested and used in healthcare applications for more than 50 years. It is the leading medical plastic in use today. Hospitals and other healthcare institutions rely on vinyl for everything from floor and wall coverings to blood bags and tubing.
American Chemistry Council Sets Record Straight About Toys and Phthalates for Holiday Season Nov. 21, 2006 – WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRWEB) – As holiday shoppers everywhere start to think about finding the perfect gift, the American Chemistry Council urges those shopping for children to become informed about phthalates used in production of many plastic toys. A recent flurry of attention has surrounded phthalates, stemming from European Union's recent ban of the substances, but the American Chemistry Council would like to prevent unnecessary concerns and point to some recent historical facts and scientific data:
Check it Out! - Phthalates Information CenterOct. 5, 2006 – Two associate professors of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School have published a study of 187 print and TV science stories that were based on research presented at scientific meetings. According to an analysis by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), the two professors find that reporters (or their editors) too often leave out “details” on the scientific reports that can be essential to a reader’s ability to evaluate them.
Vinyl Work Gloves Get Metal Detector TreatmentSept. 22, 2006 – A new line of vinyl gloves can be picked up by metal detectors, helping to ensure food safely in the plant.
More...Home
Vinyl Offers Many Possibilities for a New FenceApril 4, 2009 – If you’re exploring the different options for new or replacement fencing, one material to be sure to have on your list of possibilities is vinyl.
Newfields' Historic Home's Vinyl Siding Earns Award for Granite State Home ImprovementsJuly 28, 2008 – Granite State Home Improvements earned an Award of Distinction for Historic Restoration by the Vinyl Siding Institute.
Vinyl Floor Tiles Best Choice for Play RoomApril 19, 2008 – The ease of installation and their durability make vinyl floor tiles the best choice for a children's play room.
Bean Bags – The Seat of Your BusinessApril 10, 2008 – A lounge owner in Delhi, India says his investment in vinyl bean bag chairs was the smartest addition to his business.
Today's Pool Design, Construction Offer Endless PossibilitiesApril 9, 2008 – Vinyl lined in-ground pools have made leaps and bounds in the area of design where almost anything is possible.
White Picket Fence Often Evokes 'Home'April 6, 2008 – For many, the American dream includes owning a home with a white picket fence. The classic image still can be found in many places, from older neighborhoods to new subdivisions. But the fencing materials and looks that many are using today don't always look like the classic style you may have seen growing up.
More...Industry
Phila. May Permit PVC PipesJan. 16, 2009 – Philadelphia — the last remaining county in the state and possibly the country that prohibits PVC piping — may soon permit the use of the modern construction material if proposed legislation is passed by City Council.
Vinyl Siding Continues as Market LeaderJuly 9, 2008 – Vinyl siding remains the number one choice of exterior cladding for new single-family houses.
Seeing Growth: Its Sepcialty is Hard-to-Produce ShapesApril 17, 2008 – Custom Window Products LLC is one of a handful of companies on the East Coast that specialize in shapes for vinyl-window manufacturers.
Vinyl Advances From Aimless to EssentialAug. 15, 2007 – The early history of PVC was one of a polymer seeking usefulness.
Chemical researchers in the 1800s inadvertently discovered PVC by leaving vessels of vinyl chloride in sunlight, which polymerized the monomer into rigid solids. Scientists examined the material but could think of no use for it.
Vinyl Makes A ComebackApril 23, 2007 – Q&A: Travis Rhodes, Co-owner with Jody Cyzick, Premier Vinyl LLC
China: PVC Demand to Rise 8 Percent Annually to 2010Feb. 1, 2007 – Demand for PVC in China will rise by 8 percent annually, reaching 12m t in 2010, according to US market research group Freedonia (Cleveland, Ohio; www.freedoniagroup.com) in its recently published report "PVC in China".
More...Recycling
One Thing Leads to AnotherMay 1, 2008 – Michel Py recounts how sheet extrusion processor Cifra followed the market toward expertise in processing post-consumer PVC?scrap.
Flooring Success Goes Through RoofMay 9, 2008 – The success of Armstrong World Industries' vinyl flooring made of recycled material may result in the company being inducted into Victoria's Manufacturing Hall of Fame.
Amishman Sees Future in Recycling Vinyl SidingJuly 4, 2007 – LOYSVILLE – An Amish businessman in rural Perry County is taking construction castaways and turning them into profit instead of waste.
What 'Going Green' Means to Us: 'Rubbish! Let's Cut it Out' Feb. 1, 2007 – Pete Thomas, environment manager, Tarkett Marley Floors and chairman of the UK Resilient Flooring Association (UKRFA) recycling committee writes that the flooring industry needs to improve the quality of its recycled content in vinyl flooring.
UK Exceeds PVC Recycling TargetNov. 14, 2006 – The UK’s Europe-leading performance in the recycling of PVC products was one of the positive developments highlighted at the seminar held by the BPF’s Vinyls group earlier this month. The 2005 target figure of 3,000 tonnes was comfortably exceeded, Roger Morton of Recovinyl told 150 delegates at the Leicester venue.
Web Hunter: Industrial Recycling Offers Opportunities for Economic BenefitNov. 13, 2006 – You might be paying too much for dumpster hauling if some fraction of what you throw into them has value to somebody elsewhere on the economic food chain. In the ideal world, you’ll be able to find someone willing to pay you for your trash. Russ Kratowicz gives you web resources for recycling in his lates column. He surfs the Web so you don't have to.
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