The House That Soy Built

The House That Soy Built

Associated Press -- BROOKINGS, S.D. -- May 31, 2009 -- Munjal Patel, polyol research manager at Volga-based Urethane Soy Systems, spends all day in a lab trying to develop soybean oil into polyurethane applications.The company's research is making big strides, using soy-based polyols to create biorenewable products such as foam for insulation, packaging and cushioning, truck bed liners, and more. Now Patel is taking his work home with him - literally.

The researcher and his wife, Vaishali, are building an energy efficient home in Brookings, and they want their contractors to use as many soy-based products as possible, such as soy-based spray foam insulation, carpet padding and a countertop material product based on - you guessed it - soy materials. Besides spray foam insulation, the couple will install other efficient products, like doors, appliances and windows, and then plan to test the efficiency of the soy-based products and their home overall.

Patel, a five-year employee of Urethane Soy Systems, "With our technology, we can convert soybean oil into a polyol that could be used for any of those applications," he said. "Soy-based spray foam works the same way as standard polyurethane. At the end of the day it does give you an advantage, because now you are using soy-based material, and you know the amount of energy going in to grow the soybeans, crush the beans, make the oil and convert it into polyol, versus taking the crude oil out of the ground, convert it and make polyol. There's a good advantage there."

Soy-based polyol products are every bit as good as petroleum based products, and even better when you consider that they're more environmentally friendly. Some products, such as the spray-foam insulation, actually cost less than their competitors.

On the Net: http://www.soyol.com