 ACRE siding on a home – credit, Modern Mill, supplied13/08/2025, A groundbreaking new material made from upcycled rice husks in a zero-waste environment is giving homebuilders the option to reduce their carbon footprint while adding a rustic charm to their home’s exterior. The product, called ACRE, offers the warmth and beauty of real wood with all the conveniences of composites, and is available as siding, decking, fencing, sheets, and trimming. If any Americans were following the news during trade negotiations between Japan and the US, they may have learned, and maybe were surprised to do so, that US farmers grow 20 billion pounds of rice every year. Each of those pounds are made up of hundreds of individual rice grains, each of which is covered by a hard husk, sometimes called a hull, which are normally just sent to the landfill. ACRE inventor and producer Modern Mill is changing that by transforming this overlooked byproduct into a high-performance wood replacement that doesn’t require cutting down a single tree, and they’ve already spared 4,000 tons of rice husks from the landfill. Unlike wheat, the rice hulls contain a significant amount of lignin, the organic polymer that forms wood. This makes them strong and durable when processed, and capable of being harnessed for use as a building material. The husks themselves offer a tone and depth of color that the company describes as imitating tropical hardwoods like teak, ipe, and cedar.  An ACRE board – credit, Modern Mill, supplied One pallet of ACRE material, therefore, saves a whole acre of tropical rainforest hardwoods, and in 2022 alone, 44,000 of those pallets were delivered to builders around the country. Though prices can vary significantly, for most building projects their siding will cost between $10 and $12 per square foot. In 2023, Modern Mill was named to Fast Company Magazine’s Most Innovative Companies list, and in 2025, in response to the devastating Palisades fires in California, Modern Mill donated siding for 20 families who lost their homes to aid recovery and rebuilding efforts. “Our hearts are with the families and communities affected by the wildfires,” said Chris Guimond, Chief Executive Officer at Modern Mill. “We’re doing everything we can to help support relief efforts.”ACRE is tested and certified in accordance with California fire code to be used in all areas from moderate to very high fire hazard severity. This Home Siding Made from Rice Husks Saves Thousands of Trees and Diverts Crop Waste from Landfills |
