Is the Green-Building Market Recession-Proof?

By Anya Kaplan-Seem

Over the last decade, the green building industry has risen on the tide of a culture-wide trend toward sustainability, and many in the architecture profession believe it will continue to prosper even as the U.S. falls deeper into a recession. “I think there’s a very compelling argument that the economic environment we’re going into right now will only enhance the value of doing green,” says Guy Geier, FAIA, senior partner of FXFOWLE.

Walls and Ceilings Oct. 31, 2007.
When I worked for a major metal wall system product manufacturer in the ‘70s,I once got in hot water by being too honest. I told top management, "We have a problem." The problem was called EIFS, and we were losing business to them-and for a good reason: EIFS was "a better mouse trap." I was right, and EIFS subsequently set the wall-cladding market on fire. When I first ran into MgO board in my work overseas, it reminded me of my EIFS experience. Read this article and you'll see why.

What Is MgO Board?

Magnesium oxide board "MgO board" is a factory-made, non-insulating sheathing board product. It can be used for a number of applications including wall and ceiling linings, fascias, soffits, tile backing and underlayments. It is made of magnesium oxide, a type of mineral cement, and is commonly called simply "MgO" (pronounced emm-gee-oh) due to its chemical composition of magnesium (chemical symbol Mg) and oxygen (chemical symbol O). Think of MgO as a type of sheathing board-sort of like drywall or cement board-but with much-improved characteristics such as fire resistance, weatherability, strength, resistance to mold and mildew, and so on.