Market Overview
Followings are some of the statistics on various markets, Greenstone products are targeting:
Moisture Damage and Others- Water/Mold/Mildew/Rot/Decay/Termite
Back in 2002, even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
the total amount of homeowners’ insurance claims
nationwide for water damage, which includes ones from
mold and freezing, was over $25 billion. According to the Insurance Information Institute,in 2003, insurers paid out about $2.5 billion in mold-related claims doubling what they did in 2001. The termite damage
claims were approximately $11 billion.
Fire
According to U.S.Fire Administration (a part of FEMA), in 2006, 1.6 million fires were reported with direct property loss estimated to be $11.3 billion. 3,245 civilians and 106 fire fighters lost their lives.
Housing
According to U.S.Census Bureau, 1.98 million new homes were built in 2006. However, for 2007, it is expected to drop to 1.52 million. As for the existing housing, the number of total U.S. house hold was 108,871,000 in 2005 which includes moble homes and apartments. The Average Square Feet of Floor Area in New One-Family Houses Completed for 1976 was 1,700, for 1986 was 1,825, for 1996 was 2,120, and for 2006 was 2,469, increasing steadily over the years.
Log Homes
According to NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) and Log Homes Council, there are more than 500,000 log homes in the United States and more than 90% are used as primary residences. In the mid-1980's about 7,000 log homes were sold a year. Currently, that figure is over 25,000. There are more than 500 log home manufacturers and more than 2,600 builder/dealers in the U.S. and Canada. U.S. production of log homes represents 7% of custom home construction in the U.S. The typical log home has over 2,000 square feet of living space compared to 1,100 square feet 15 years ago.
CCA Treated Wood
For over 50 years, CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) was
used as a preservative to treat wood in the United States.
However, due to known carcinogens, Arsenic, CCA has been
banned from residential use since the end of 2003. The most of these treated lumbers are used on decks. with 46% of US homes having a deck (Coatings World Feb '08). Out of all these decks, 2 to 3 million existing decks are estimated to contain
CCA treated wood which translates into somewhere between
600 and 900 million square feet of decking surface. In addition to decking, there
are other CCA treated wood products out there exposing
people to possible health risks, including many children
such as using wooden playground equipment.
Plywood Wood & OSB (Oriented Strand Board)
According to the Engineered Wood Association (APA),
North American structual wood panel (plywood and OSB) production is expected to total 40.2 billion square feet (3/8 inch thickness basis) for year 2007 down 2.2 billion square feet from 2006 and 2.9 billion from the record mark 43.1 billion in 2005. (Note: On average 400 square feet of surface can be sprayed with one gallon of GreenShield. The current suggested retail price of GreenShield is $70 per gallon)
Railroad Products (Cross ties, freight car decking, etc.)
Over 90% of all railroad ties are still wooden and approximately
20 million railroad ties are produced
in the United States each year to replace aging cross
ties. Environmentally damaging Creosote is still being
used to treat most of cross ties, and an alternative chemical
has been seriously sought out to replace the existing
Creosote process. In some markets, Creosote usage has
been banned and cross ties are not being treated which
reduces their usage to only 3 years or less. For decades, railroads spent little on expansion, even tore up surplus track and shrank routes. But since 2000, they have spent $10 billion to expand tracks, built freight yards and bought locomotives, and they have $12 bilion more in upgrade planned. Because of the oil (gas) price surges in recent years, railroads are cutting into the business of the two million long-haul freight trucks in the US., which account for 350 million shipments a year. Railroads have also found friends among environmentalists, who see moving freight by train rather than truck as a way to reduce fuel burning and emissions. (WSJ 2/13/07).
Windows & Doors
In 2005, more than 70 million windows were sold in the United States and about 40% of that were wooden ones. Out of $30 billion Window & Door market, wooden windows and doors also acount for approximately 40%, $12 billion.
Dry Kilns
According to United Nation's Economic figures for 2006, approximately 66 billion board feet of sawn wood were produced in the North America. More than half of those need to be kiln dried by approximately 10,000 existing dry kilns.
Corrosion
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2001 report, the total direct cost in the US from corrosion is estimated to be $276 billion per year. Of that, $8.3 billion was spent on highway bridges and $2.2 billion was spent on aircraft. Also, 2001 GAO study on corrosion cost for the US military estimatesto be approximatelty $20 billion.
Galvanized Steel
According to American Galvanizer Association, 3.1 million tons of galvanized steel was produced in 2006. Average galvanized surface area per ton of steel is 250 ft2 according to a NACE Paper. Therefore, the potential surface area for Permeate is approximately 800 million Square Feet per year.
Bridges
According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are 586,000 bridges in the United States and approximately 1/3 of that are in need of repair or replacement.
Concrete
According to the Concrete Construction, November 2005 article, the concrete construction cost in the US was $109.6 billion in 2004 and 484 million cubic yards of ready mixed concrete was produced.
Earthquake
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year. According to CUREe (California Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering), the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in California, which registered 6.7 on the Richter scale, caused $40 billion in property loss. USGS shows that we experienced fifty-five earthquakes with magnitudes of six or higher between year 2000 and 2007 in the United States and 1,263 around the world. The State of California experienced approximately 75 percent of the nationa's seismic activity. The number of these large quakes have stayed relatively constant and not on increase, according to USGS.
Asbestos
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fiber that has been used in more than 3,000 different construction materials and manufactured products. It is commonly found in heating system insulation, decorative spray-on ceiling treatments, vinyl flooring, cement shake siding and a variety of additional materials. Some asbestos-containing materials were still being installed into the late 1980s.All types of asbestos tend to break into very tiny fibers. These individual fibers are so small that many must be identified using a microscope. In fact, some individual fibers may be up to 700 times smaller than a human hair. Because asbestos fibers are so small, once released into the air, they may stay suspended there for hours or even days. Asbestos fibers are also virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and they are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they are not broken down over time. Asbestos is probably the best insulator known to man. Usually asbestos is mixed with other materials to actually form the products. Floor tiles, for example, may contain only a small percentage of asbestos.The asbestos content of different materials varies according to the product and how it is used. Among those materials with higher concentrations of asbestos are insulation products on heating systems and the backing on sheet vinyl flooring. However, an uncontrolled disturbance of any asbestos-containing material in any concentration may be dangerous to your health!
