From the concept of “Sackett Board” in 1888 to today’s diverse offering of special performance panels, gypsum panel products – essential for their fire resistive properties – are a ubiquitous component of both interior and exterior architectural solutions.
Gypsum panel products are used throughout commercial, multi-family and residential structures across the United State and Canada. Homes, offices, hospitals, schools, libraries, stores, and gymnasiums, to name a few examples, rely on gypsum panel products for smooth interior walls that are readily installed, easily decorated and quickly repaired. Even more importantly, gypsum panels provide the passive fire resistance that today’s building codes require.
Today, the gypsum industry produces over 25 billion square feet of gypsum panels annually. The engine behind this production consists of over 70 gypsum panel manufacturing plants, in addition to quarries, mines, paper plants, sales offices, and distribution centers. Collectively, these operations touch every county or province from coast to coast. The beneficiaries of this economic powerhouse include the hundreds of thousands of architects, engineers, builders, general and specialty contractors, shippers and building officials whose professional livelihoods benefit more or less directly from the gypsum industry. Chances are you are within just feet of a gypsum panel right now.
Indeed, the economic impact of the gypsum industry is significant!