GREEN ZIP® TECHNOLOGY

Green Zip® Technology is a Movable and Removable Partition System that transforms non-loadbearing drywalls.  The patented process allows for the installation of drywalls such that they can be removed, relocated and reused, in both new construction and renovation.

 ARCHITECT Magazines states “It’s hard to get simpler in conception and execution than Green Zip”

  1. Walls are installed using conventional materials – gypsum board, removable screws and joint compound
  2. Instead of mudding over the screws and drywall joints, the self-adhesive Green Zip® Tape is applied first
  3. Joint compound is then applied over the patented Green Zip® joint Tape which was developed with precise horizontal and vertical super-fiber threads to control the amount of compound applied in the mudding process
  4. A tab is left exposed at the joint bottom, later covered by baseboard or carpet
  5. To remove and reuse the drywall partition1, this tab is exposed and the super-fiber strength allows the tape to be “zipped up” through the mud and paint to cleanly expose the seam and drywall screws for demounting

Working in conjunction with the IRS has allowed Green Zip® to provide significant financial benefits and increased cash flow for investors in commercial and residential rental real estate.

Green Zip® Tape is Fire Rated *
Green Zip® is the only drywall tape to pass IRS testing to qualify for Federal Tax benefit

1 Method for removing Joint Tape and Drywall is protected by US Patents including #10,648,153, #2,643,293 CA, #7197853,#7197853, #7451577B2 and US & Foreign Pending Patents © 2009 Green Zip.  All rights reserved    *The Green Zip Tape in our warehouse is UL classified. It was manufactured/produced prior to our withdrawal from the UL program and met UL requirements at that time..

“FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION — THAT HAS BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD.
FORM AND FUNCTION SHOULD BE ONE, JOINED IN A SPIRITUAL UNION”
— Frank Lloyd Wright

ESG/ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

Business Week reports the manufacture of drywall alone accounts for 1% of all energy used by U.S. industry, and thus a comparable percentage of all industry carbon emissions2. An estimated 26% of the waste in a construction landfill is drywall3.

Green Zip® patented technology allows non-load bearing drywall partitions to be removed, relocated and re-used in both new construction and renovation projects.  This is an environmentally responsible and sustainable alternative to demolishing the interior space of buildings.

Using Green Zip® will Reduce Water & Energy Use and Carbon Emissions, Increase Waste Diversion and Social Health:

  • WATER & ENERGY: Reduce the manufacture of new drywall and the associated environmental impact
  • WASTE DIVERSION: Provide a means to comply with local landfill diversion and green building requirements
  • WASTE DIVERSION: Divert tons of drywall from landfills where it can leech poisonous Hydrogen Sulfide, a greenhouse gas, into our air and water as it decomposes—the equal of 17 fifty story buildings… everyday!
  • CARBON EMISSIONS: Reduce carbon emissions associated with the transportation of drywall waste to landfills and the manufacture of drywall
  • SOCIAL HEALTH: Make healthier buildings by avoiding the fiberglass & metal dust and noise associated with demolition
  • SOCIAL HEALTH: Allow easier access to internal parts of the building to assist in mold mitigation
  • LEED CREDITS: Green Zip® construction technology is recognized as being eligible for as many as 17 direct & 8 indirect LEED credits by the US Green Building Council

2– Business Week, Taking the Heat off Drywall, January 21, 2008 pg 62.
3 – 26% of the waste by weight in a construction landfill is drywall according to NAHB Resource Center; EPA Report by IFC Corp. states 20% by volume.

AWARD-WINNING RECOGNITION

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded Green Zip Tape the Best Building Component award in their 2007 Lifecycle Building Challenge.

In 2010, ARCHITECT Magazine [the magazine of the American Institute of Architects] awarded Green Zip its prestigious R+D Award, stating, “It’s hard to get simpler in conception and execution than Green-Zip Tape.  The product is a substitute for the joint-compound tape that has been used between gypsum board panels since the introduction of prefabricated plasterboard in the early 1930s.  The product impressed all three jurors.”

“NO HOUSE SHOULD EVER BE ON ANY HILL OR ON ANYTHING.  IT SHOULD BE OF THE HILL, BELONGING TO IT,
SO HILL AND HOUSE COULD LIVE TOGETHER, EACH THE HAPPIER FOR THE OTHER.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright

DOWNLOAD ENVIRONMENTAL CASE STUDY

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CONSTRUCTION BENEFITS

GREEN ZIP® TECHNOLOGY SPEEDS THE TIME OF DRYWALL INSTALLATION
  • Patented Green Zip® joint tape has two times the adhesive strength of other brands of drywall tape
  • Instead of mudding over the screws and drywall joints, the self-adhesive Green Zip® Tape is applied first
  • Using our Zip Stick® tape applicator speeds the taping process —approximately twice as fast as a Bazooka gun.
  • The Zip Stick® weighs about 4 pounds; a “Bazooka” type drywall applicator can weigh as much as 18 pounds (fully loaded with joint compound)
  • The Zip Stick® requires no maintenance.  A “Bazooka” type drywall applicator must be cleaned and oiled regularly.
  • Contractors report an overall decrease in material and labor costs with Green Zip®
GREEN ZIP® REUSABLE DRYWALL PARTITIONS REDUCE REMODEL COSTS
  • Provides a means to comply with local landfill diversion and green building requirements.
  • Reduces project related landfill costs, time, and transportation
  • Provides a hedge against future ever-increasing landfill and waste costs and restrictions banning drywall. When drywall is deposited in a landfill it combines with moisture and organic matter to create poison H2S gas, as a consequence the EPA has designated it hazardous waste.
  • Avoids noisy, dusty demolition saws and sledgehammers, reducing demo costs, time and the potential for demo-related accidents.
  • Allows “quiet” remodel during normal business hours (not just nights & weekends when labor is more costly) without disturbing adjacent occupants.
  • Allows for the re-use of materials already on-site, further reducing time and costs. A reduction in retrofitting time can also reduce labor costs and employee or tenant downtime during a remodel.
  • Allows access to internal parts of the building to assist in building system repairs or mold mitigation
  • Since 2008, Clark Contractors has successfully brought GreenZip benefits to its clients, including Embassy Suites, Bank OZK, and more.
  • In 2013, Turner Construction (an international construction firm known for embracing new technologies) documented a retrofitting case study for British Petroleum that substantiates and endorses the product’s. effectiveness.  Turner estimated that the cost savings achieved with Green Zip® amounted to $110 per linear foot when a wall is relocated.
  • In 2021, HITT Contracting funded a field test and study of the GreenZip Partition System.  The favorable report resulted in HITT recommending GreenZip to its clients.  
GREEN ZIP® MOVABLE & REMOVABLE DRYWALL PARTITION PANELS CAN AID IN MOLD REMEDIATION AND AVOID ASSOCIATED LEGAL COSTS
  • Buildings can experience a variety of water damage: envelope leaks, fixture overflow, plumbing leaks, etc.
  • When water penetrates into a dark wall cavity interior it can feed toxic mold growth.
  • Drywall panels installed with Green Zip® Tape can simply be “zipped” up and removed to expose the damaged wall cavity.
  • Wall panels and interior wall cavity can be checked for moisture content, dried out, certified as dry by the installer (to prevent future litigation exposure) and re-installed, preventing toxic mold growth.
  • Provides a hedge against future liability for placing known toxic elements into the environment.
  • Holiday Inn / Intercontinental Hotel Group approved the system for its projects to mitigate costly mold related litigation from mold illness claims.
DOWNLOAD TURNER CONSTRUCTION CASE STUDY

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FINANCIAL & TAX ADVANTAGES

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU MANAGE YOUR REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION PORTFOLIO

QUANTITATIVE SAVINGS

By changing the drywall tape on your project to Green Zip®, depreciating the cost of non-load bearing walls can be significantly accelerated to create Cash Tax Benefits of $5 to $15+ per floor area square feet.

  • Commercial buildings and residential rental property have a depreciable life of 39 years and 27.5 years, respectively.  For tax purposes, this applies to the permanent structural elements of the building.
  • Nonstructural Personal Property elements have a much shorter recovery period — either five-year or seven-year class.4
  • The U.S. Senate, authors and superior authority of our tax laws, succinctly ruled in Senate Report #95 “movable & removable partitions are tangible personal property and not a structural component”, thus qualifying them for shorter class life depreciation than conventionally installed drywall— 5 years or less as opposed to 27.5 years (residential rental property) or 39 years (commercial buildings.) Notably, in PLR-110197-13 the IRS relied on Senate Report #95 as support for demountable zip type drywall partitions as personal property.
  • The IRS, in PLR-110197-13, allow not only the classification of the demountable interior zip type drywall partitions as personal property but also the cost of the glass, doors, frames and other hardware, wall finishes and utilities: electrical, plumbing, and cabling, components related to the zip type demountable drywall.
  • The result can be a near-term reduction in tax liability and a meaningful increase in cash flow for the investor/owner of a commercial building or residential rental property in the design, early-stage construction or renovation phase.

4 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allows more rapid depreciation and thus greater benefit.

Green Zip® technology can reduce investors’ near-term tax liability and increase cash flow

For example, say a residential rental building costs $50 Million to build — and $5 million of that is considered “personal” property (i.e not part of the permanent building structure).  The tax paying investor is able to depreciate that $5 million of expense on the property over five4 years.  The rest of the building cost — $45 million — depreciates over 27.5 years, providing a much slower tax deduction savings (i.e. a slower rate of return).

Now take that same example — and using Green Zip® — say an additional $10 million in construction expense can now be reclassified as “personal” property.  The tax paying investor is now able to depreciate $15 million of expenses on the property over five4 years.  On an after-tax basis (assuming a 39% tax rate), the accelerated depreciation on that additional $10 million in expenses would amount to a savings of $3.9 million over 5 years.  In other words, the investor reduced near-term tax liability — and thus increased cash flow — by $3.9 million over the five-year4 period.  This highlights the powerful benefit of installing walls with Green Zip® and utilizing a Cost Segregation study to properly classify assets in accordance with IRS guidelines.

There is an additional financial benefit to installing Green Zip® drywall partitions.  When the building is sold, the new owner can claim the total amount of the accelerated depreciation identified in the cost segregation study.  This amount (recalculated on the basis of the property’s new purchase price) still includes the demountable drywall partitions and the elements on, in, and behind them.  This gives the building additional value and may provide the seller with a competitive advantage.
4 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allows more rapid depreciation and thus greater benefit.

“I BELIEVE TOTALLY IN A CAPITALIST SYSTEM.  I ONLY WISH THAT SOMEONE WOULD TRY IT.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright

AFFIRMATION

IRS AFFIRMED

In 2008, the Commissioner of the IRS signed an agreement designating Green Zip® demountable drywall technology as personal property — not real estate, thus qualifying for tax-based monetary incentives.  When part of the Green Zip® Partition System™, the IRS  allowed the glass; doors, frames and hardware, wall finishes; utilities and wall-associated specialties  to be classified as personal property, also qualifying for the incentives.

Patented Green Zip® is the only drywall tape that can successfully remove joint compound after it has cured to full hardness.  This was demonstrated for – and captured on video by – the IRS.  It is the only brand that passed IRS testing; other drywall tapes failed to meet the IRS requirements to treat drywalls as personal property.5

In 2014, the IRS published a Private Letter Ruling PLR 110197-13 which concluded that “zip type partitions are tangible personal property for depreciation purposes,” making them eligible for shorter life depreciation.  Drywall partitions installed using Green Zip® technology may be depreciated over five years4 as opposed to 27.5 years (residential) or 39 years (commercial) for conventional drywall.  The accelerated depreciation achieved with Green Zip® can free up potentially significant cash flow for future investment by tax-paying owners/developers.

In both of the above rulings, the IRS cited Senate Report #95 as a basis for its personal property ruling.  The U.S. Senate, authors and superior authority of our tax laws, clarified the tax law regarding movable partitions succinctly stating, “a movable and removable partition is tangible personal property and not a structural component.”6

In 2018, the IRS affirmed GreenZip Tape Partitions are personal property for a taxpayer/owner of apartments and hotels during a routine audit.  Their CPA is available for comments.

4 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allows more rapid depreciation and thus greater benefit.
5 Green-Zip Tape is the only tape licensed to use patent #10,648,153; #2,643,293C; #7197853, #7451577B2 AND other Pending Patents required to assemble and disassemble drywall.  Beware of any company or tax service making current claims that their demountable drywall is personal property.  After a 2008 demonstration before the IRS authorities, they are keenly aware that all other drywall tapes failed to qualify for government incentives after the joint compound had been allowed to dry to near maximum hardness.
6 Senate Report #95 of 1978 was written to clarify present tax law (the 1975 Revenue Rule 75-178 and the 1975 Whiteco Industries).  Senate Report #95 specifically lists three assets, including movable and removable partitions, that are personal property.  All other assets must rely on Whiteco Industries factors to determine proper classification.  

“MAYBE WE CAN SHOW GOVERNMENT HOW TO OPERATE BETTER AS A RESULT OF BETTER ARCHITECTURE”
— Frank Lloyd Wright

ACCOUNTING, REALTY & LAW FIRMS VALIDATED

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC): In February of 2014, PWC highlighted the IRS accelerated depreciation classification ruling (regarding our patented technology) on their website and featured it in their monthly Accounting Methods Spotlight.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: That same year, in an article published in Bloomberg BNA Daily Tax Report, David Burton, a tax attorney and partner at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, affirmed the IRS ruling.

RSM: After a year-long vetting process, the International accounting firm RSM (formerly McGladrey) issued a ringing endorsement in 2015 and employed it on their Dallas office expansion.

CBRE has performed some 100 cost segregation studies wherein GreenZip Partitions including related glass; doors, frames & hardware; paint; finishes; electrical and plumbing; qualified as personal property in both commercial and residential rental properties.

Hines: Jerry Lea, EVP with Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers in the world, commented regarding GreenZip, “As a developer, one of our Core Roles is to maximize the value of every invested dollar and capture the highest Net Present Value available.  When a ‘game-changing’ innovation creates opportunity, our client, tenants, and investors are informed.”

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ENDORSEMENTS

Mark D. Ross, COO, Bank of the Ozarks

“We now have a built in mechanism for remodeling that should be less expensive, less time consuming and most importantly, environmentally friendly. In addition, we received a tax benefit that created considerable value for Bank of the Ozarks. We are so satisfied with the results of this innovative process that we subsequently engaged Green Zip to assist us during the construction of two additional branch bank facilities and for our operations center.”

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Henly Montgomery, Senior VP of Development, Americare Senior Living

“Our company typically spends $25,000,000 annually on new construction. We plan to use the Green-Zip product on all of our new buildings. Our contractors have had no issue in using the product. The tax benefit makes the Green-Zip product a financial no-brainer for our company going forward.”

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Stan Marek, Chairman & CEO, Marek Construction

“We recently built our new 50,000 SF headquarters building and used the Green-Zip Partition System everywhere.  It saves time, money, and lends itself to the green environment that is helping our industry do its part for sustainability.  To me, it’s a simple solution and one that everyone should take advantage of!  The financial benefit is consistent with the projections we received and is significant.”

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Michael Freberg, Regional Vice President, Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors

“As Regional VP/Division Manager at Brasfield & Gorrie, I am responsible for vetting and introducing innovations in the commercial construction industry to our clients. Recently, we were asked by one of our hospitality clients to vet a drywall innovation called Green-Zip, a patented process and that allows the disassembly of interior drywall partitions . . . the use of Green-Zip can create a significant financial benefit. We were so impressed with Green Zip, we used it [in] our new Dallas office . . . and plan to recommend Green-Zip to our clients.”

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Mark Kinsella, President, Intertec Construction, Inc., Houston, Texas

“. . . We have a responsibility to our clients to provide state of the art products that are cost effective and lend themselves to green building . . . one rarely sees innovations in tried and true systems such as drywall. The Green-Zip Tape Partition system provides several innovations which make us proud to install the Green-Zip Tape Partition system.”

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Brandon Huffman, President, Huffman Drywall, Little Rock, Arkansas

“. . . as a multi-family and hospitality developer/owner . . . Green Zip is not only a superior drywall tape from the mechanical side, but its use will allow me the flexibility to adapt my buildings to meet changing demographics down the road . . . the financial benefits associated with accelerated depreciation are valuable to me as an owner, and could potentially add to the building’s value in the event of a sale.”

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HOW IT WORKS

EASY / SIMPLE

ARCHITECT Magazine stated, “Its hard to get simpler in conception and execution than GreenZip Tape.”

Use conventional gypsum drywall, removable screws and metal or wood studs.  Install vertical or horizontal drywall panels onto interior non-load bearing walls (not located at  a building perimeter, elevators or building cores) using self-adhesive Green Zip® Tape.  Green Zip® won’t add to the construction schedule or budget.

INSTALLATION

  1. Attach drywall to metal or wood studs with removable screws
  2. Instead of mudding over the screws and drywall joints, the self-adhesive GreenZip® Tape is applied first
  3. Float the finish coat of mud compound over the GreenZip Tape

DEMOUNTING

  1. Pull tape up through mud and paint to expose the screws beneath
  2. Remove the screws with a power drill
  3. Remove the drywall panels and stack on cart for reuse

GREEN ZIP® TECHNOLOGY: STEEL STUDS

GREEN ZIP® TECHNOLOGY: WOOD STUDS

IRS TESTING OF GREEN ZIP® TECHNOLOGY