Letters

Concern with allegations regarding wood fiberboard

The North American Fiberboard Association (NAFA) would like to point out it has provided new information that renders unnecessary the warning given in NRCA Associate Executive Director of Technical Services Mark Graham's March column, "A concern with fiberboard insulation," page 12.

Specifically, I informed Graham that in my capacity as NAFA executive director I have visited the plants and questioned production personnel and members of NAFA's board of directors for each company and learned that at each location, cane fiber is not and has not ever been used as a raw material.

The few allegations of corrosion that have been made only involved cane fiberboard. NAFA's members have not received any such allegations against wood fiberboard. This has been true for decades of wood fiberboard production and use.

The only plant in the U.S. that ever has used cane fiber was Knight-Celotex LLC in Marrero, La. That plant closed in 2006. There should be no ongoing concern with current projects.

NAFA remains able and willing and in full support of NRCA to resolve this concern and encourages concerned NRCA members to visit NAFA's website, www.fiberboard.org, for more information.

Louis Wagner
NAFA
Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Graham responds: Thank you for the additional information. As I pointed out in my March column, it is important for roofing professionals to realize there are two general types of fiberboard insulation—wood fiberboard and bagasse-based (cane) fiberboard—used in existing roof systems. One complicating factor in identifying the fiber composition of these fiberboard products is both products are covered by the same U.S. product standard, ASTM C208, "Standard Specification for Cellulosic Insulating Board," without differentiation. Wood fiberboard and bagasse-based fiberboard insulation look similar. Sometimes, bagasse-based fiberboard can be differentiated from wood fiberboard; bagasse-containing fiberboard generally is composed of coarser, irregular fibrous material.

The corrosion concerns reported to NRCA appear to be limited to bagasse-based fiberboard insulation. From Wagner's letter, production of bagasse-based fiberboard ceased at Knight-Celotex's Marrero, La., plant in 2006. Knowledge of this end date is useful for determining the period of time bagasse-based fiberboard may have been purchased and installed.

NRCA remains concerned about the potential for corrosion of metal components in existing roof systems that incorporate bagasse-based fiberboard insulation and the effect such corrosion may have on worker safety and the load-carrying capacity of steel roof decks. As I indicated in my column, building owners, designers, product suppliers and roofing contractors are encouraged to review file information and determine whether fiberboard products from Knight-Celotex's Marrero plant are present in their roof systems.