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of the f4 IBI member comPanies come out with a new ceiling tile pattern to tie' in with the trend toward ceiling decoration and total sound condiiioningin residenceg" he said.

Gray points out that insulation board was first created in the Spring of l9l4 in the basement of a paper mill at International Falls, Minn. In March of that year, a young engrneer from St. Paul' Carl G. Muench, was summoned to see what use could be made of the tons of wood fibers considered too coarse for paper making. The owaste fibers' were literally creating mountains that seemed to defy disposal. By May, however, Muench had invented and built a machine and was producing insulation board. The first insulation board was used to insulate an office building for the paper mill-and a whole new forest prod' ucts industry was born. The office building, says Gray, was later moved to town, and it is still in use as a home.

Anniversary Tieeting

"Carl G. Muench, the father of the insu' lation board industry," said Gray, "today is ?6 and living in retirement in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. We hope to have Mr. Muench and other industry pioneers and leaders with us when we commemorate the 50th Anniversary at the lnsulation Board Institute meeting in June at Rye, N.Y. Muench not only invented the product, but he helped found the first two companies in the industry."

Today, the 14 companies which are members oi the Insulation Board Institute produce over 2 billion sq. ft. of insulation board annually which represents over 95/o of total production. The firms operate 19 plants in 14 states. Insulation board side' wall sheathing is used on about half of all single family homes of wood frame or masonry veneer construction erected in America each year. Virtually all of the nation's 30,000 retail lumber and building materials dealers sell insulation board ceiling tile, sheathing and other products. About half of all the flat roof commeraial and indus' trial buildings which use roof insulation use rigid insulation board as part of builtup roofs.

\ o'The very quality that made insulation board a popular building material 50 years ago in the rugged climate of northern Minnesota,t'said Gray, t'continues to be a main sales-plus for the material today."

Made from natural wood and cane fibers, each square foof of insulation board con' tains millions of dead air spaces. The spaces

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