INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The heating and cooling of buildings uses a lot of energy, so engineers

continually look for creative ways to reduce the heating and cooling demands, and thus

the total amount of energy required, one way to do this is by making fiberboard.

Engineers have developed many types of insulation such as fiberglass, rock wool,
mineral wool, natural wool, cotton, straw, cellulose, paper, polyurethane foam,

polystyrene foam, polyester and soy foam (Robert McKinney and Marissa H. Forbes,

2013).

Due to their low thermal conductivity and low cost production cellulose fibers has

been widely adopted in many countries. More importantly, these materials are non-toxic,

harmless and eco-friendly making them more appealing to use. Cellulose fibers like

Johnson grass has also advantages like minor health issues if any, easy to install,

inhibits airflow, environmentally friendly, and helps minimize fire damage.

Studies shows that thermal characteristics of grass-made fiber materials are

strong enough to be used in particular kind of insulation, and equivalent to mineral

wools. The researcher come up with the idea of making an fiberboard made of Johson

grass aiming to produce economical, non- toxic and acceptable fiberboard.

The study of Johnson grass fiber as fiberboard requires less production cost,

which will be affordable and therefore helps people improve their quality of life. This

study is also useful for building owners since this requires less energy to maintain. More

importantly, this study does not harm the environment instead helps to minimize waste

and utilize a materials’ potential to be used as a construction material.

 The main goal of this study is to make an fiberboardmade up of Johnson grass

fiber. Furthermore, the study specifically aims to determine the thermal conductivity,

bending strength and moisture content of the fiberboard

The coverage of this study is to determine the potential of Johnson grass fiber as

fiberboard. The tests to be conducted are thermal conductivity test, bending test and

moisture content of the board.

This study proposes the use of Johson grass fiber and adhesive as a binder for

the production of fiberboard. For the adhesive, the polyester resin, epoxy resin and

urea-formaldehyde will be use as an alternate resin for binding. The development of this

study will be used by builders, construction firms, and engineers especially in the wall,

safety barrier, alternative materials, ceiling and room partition in the house, and other

structural uses.