Kevin Surace invents eco-friendly drywall

Translator: Ingrid Lezar Reviewer: Erich Lutz

What's happening to the climate?

Wat gaan aan met die klimaat?

It is unbelievably bad.

Dis ongelooflik sleg.

This is, obviously, that famous view now of the Arctic,

Hier is daai bekende beeld van die Noordpool,

which is likely to be gone at this point

wat waarskynlik tot niet sal wees

in the next three or four or five years. Very, very, very scary.

iewers in die volgende drie, vier, vyf jaar.

Baie, baie angswekkend.

So we all look at what we can do.

Ons kyk dus almal wat ons kan doen.

And when you look at the worldwide sources of CO2,

En as mens kyk na CO2-bronne wêreldwyd,

52 percent are tied to buildings.

is 52 persent aan geboue toe te skryf.

Only nine percent is passenger cars, interestingly enough.

Slegs 9 persent aan motors, interessant genoeg.

So we ran off to a sushi bar.

So ons gaan eet toe maar sushi.

And at that sushi bar we came up with a great idea.

En daar het ons met ’n blink idee vorendag gekom,

And it was something called EcoRock.

genaamd EcoRock.

And we said we could redesign the 115-year-old

Ons't gesê ons kan die 115-jaar-oue gips-pleisterbord-proses,

gypsum drywall process that generates

wat 20 miljard pond CO2 per jaar produseer, herontwerp.

20 billion pounds of CO2 a year.

So it was a big idea. We wanted to reduce that by 80 percent,

So dis ’n groot idee. Ons wou dit met 80 persent verminder.

which is exactly what we've done.

En dis presies wat ons gedoen het.

We started R&D in 2006.

Ons't in 2006 met N&O begin,

Decided to use recycled content from cement

besluit om herwinde komponente

and steel manufacturing.

van sement- en staalvervaardiging te gebruik.

There is the inside of our lab. We haven't shown this before.

In ons laboratorium: ons't nog nooit so iets gewys nie.

But our people had to do some 5,000

Maar ons mense moes sowat 5000 verskillende mengels beproef

different mixes to get this right, to hit our targets.

om ons teikens te tref.

And they worked absolutely very, very, very hard.

En hulle het baie, baie hard gewerk.

So then we went forward and built our production line in China.

So toe het ons voortgegaan en ons produksielyn in Sjina gebou.

We don't build this production equipment any longer in the U.S., unfortunately.

Die VSA bou ongelukkig nie meer sulke vervaardigingstoerusting nie.

We did the line install over the summer.

Ons't die lynaanleg oor die somer gedoen.

We started right there, with absolutely nothing.

Ons't net daar begin, met absoluut niks.

You're seeing for the first time, a brand new drywall production line,

Julle sien nou vir die eerste keer ’n splinternuwe pleisterbord produksielyn,

not made using gypsum at all.

gemaak sonder enige gips.

That's the finished production line there.

Dis die voltooide produksielyn.

We got our first panel out on December third.

Ons't die eerste paneel op 3 Desember uitgekry.

That is the slurry being poured onto paper, basically. That's the line running.

Dis die slyk wat basies op die papier gegiet word.

Dis die produksielyn.

The exciting thing is, look at the faces of the people.

Die opwindende ding is: kyk na die mense se gesigte.

These are people who worked this project for two to three years.

Hulle't vir twee, drie jaar op die projek gewerk.

And they are so excited. That's the first board off the line.

Hulle's so opgewonde: die eerste bord van die lyn af.

Our Vice President of Operation kissing the board. Obviously very, very excited.

Ons visepresident van bestuur soen die bord. Natuurlik baie, baie opgewonde.

But this has a huge, huge impact on the environment.

Maar dit het ’n reuse impak op die omgewing.

We signed the first panel just a few weeks after that, had a great signing ceremony,

Ons't die eerste paneel ’n paar weke later geteken,

’n lieflike seremonie gehou.

leading to people hopefully using these products across the world.

Wat hopelik lei daartoe dat mense wêreldwyd die produkte gebruik.

And we've got Cradle-to-Cradle Gold on this thing.

Dit het Cradle to Cradle goudsertifikasie.

We happened to win, just recently, the Green Product of the Year

Ons't onlangs die Groen Produk van die Jaar gewen,

for "The Re-Invention of Drywall," from Popular Science.

vir "die heruitvind van pleisterbord," van Popular Science.

Thank you. Thank you.

Dankie. Dankie.

So here is what we learned: 8,000 gallons of gas

So hier's wat ons geleer het:

30 kiloliter brandstof -- ekwivalent aan een huis bou.

equivalent to build one house.

You probably had no idea. It's like driving around the world six times.

Het julle dit geweet! Dis soos ses keer om die wêreld ry.

We must change everything.

Ons moet alles verander!

Look around the room: chairs, wood,

Kyk in hierdie kamer: stoele, hout --

everything around us has to change or we're not going to lick this problem.

alles om ons moet verander as ons dié probleem gaan baasraak.

Don't listen to the people who say you can't do this, because anyone can.

Moenie luister as mense sê julle kan nie, want enigiemand kan.

And these job losses, we can fix them with green-collar jobs.

Mense wat hulle werk verloor --

ons kan dit regmaak met omgewingsvriendelike poste.

We've got four plants. We're building this stuff around the country.

Ons het vier fabrieke. Ons bou regoor die land.

We're going as fast as we can.

Ons gaan so vinnig soos ons kan.

Two and a half million cars worth of gypsum,

Twee en ’n half miljoen karre se gips,

you know, CO2 generated. Right?

julle weet, deur CO2 gegenereer, né?

So what will you do? I'll tell you what I did and why I did it. And I know my time's up.

So wat gaan julle doen?

Ek sal julle sê wat ek gedoen het, en hoekom.

Those are my kids, Natalie and David.

Dis my kinders, Natalie en David.

When they have their kids, 2050,

Wanneer hulle kinders het, 2050,

they'd better look back at Grandpa and say,

beter hulle terugkyk na Oupa en sê:

"Hey, you gave it a good shot. You did the best you could

"Ja, jy't jou bes gedoen

with the team that you had."

met die span wat jy gehad het."

So my hope is that when you leave TED,

So my hoop is dat wanneer julle TED verlaat,

you will look at reducing your carbon footprint

julle sal kyk om julle koolstof-voetspoor te verklein,

in however you can do it.

op enige manier moontlik.

And if you don't know how, please find me -- I will help you.

En as julle nie weet hoe nie, vind my asseblief. Ek sal help.

Last but not least, Bill Gates, I know you invented Windows.

Laaste maar nie die minste nie, Bill Gates: jy't dalk Windows uitgedink;

Wait till you see, maybe next year, what kind of windows we've invented.

wag tot jy sien, dalk volgende jaar, watse vensters ons gaan uitdink.

Thank you so much.

Baie dankie.

(Applause)

(Applous)