The CelluWood project is dealing with laminated strong Eco-Materials for building construction made of cellulose strengthened wood.

The specific objective of this proposal is to bring into existence a new range of low carbon, reliably strong building construction materials made of wood sourced from well managed and sustainable forests, through:

• The introduction of the (new) technologies from other sectors (e.g. cellulose velvet, bio-composite reinforcement and bio-resin) for innovative uses in the defect removal and repairing, and lamination of strong building materials.
• Facilitating innovation in the use of nano/micro cellulose and bio-resin technologies in timber re-engineering.
• The development, testing and demonstration of the novel initiative products.

The wood thus procured will have sequestered carbon from atmospheric CO2. It would be converted for assembly into cross-laminated structural sections. Bonding at lamination interfaces would be achieved with novel cellulosic membranes instead of resin made from petro-chemical feedstock. Where necessary, the sections would be strengthened by the addition of strategically located laminations of strong natural fibre composite (flax, hemp and nettle) in combination with bio-resin from natural resources. The resulting new building materials would be strong, lower the CO2 emissions intrinsic to construction, reduce massively the embodied energy in building carcasses, create new opportunities for carbon capture and storage, minimise thermal bridging through insulation layers and improve the possibilities for low-impact recycling of waste materials arising following a building’s eventual demolition.

The works programme would spring from the existing fabrication of finger-jointed durable structural boarding and existing Glullam manufacturing for the building construction market. The programme would:

• Accommodate development and refinement of a process of cross lamination bonding using fibrillic cellulose membranes. The time allocated is that necessary to convert this into an industrial process to substitute for synthetic glue-bonding.
• The complex finger joint process will be replaced with a simple scarf joint in conjunction with natural fibre reinforcement.
• Fibre-reinforced cellulosic pastes would be produced in tandem with the membranes for infilling hollow parts of structural sections of laminated columns. The pastes and reinforcement would be made from wood off-cuts and other waste wood particles arising from conversion, sawing and fabrication. This technique has already been established as viable and will be transformed for use in new industrial sector within the intended programme.

The major output would be a major new market for laminated wood in construction: Eco-Beams and columns and production technologies. This would stimulate rural economies in all EU states and promote the planting and good management of new woodland, with its attendant environmental benefits. The clear result of this market’s emergence would be a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of construction within the EU and, eventually, world wide, as the proposed engineered timber became a viable and cost-effective substitute for conventional strong construction materials that are high CO2 emitters during manufacture. A further beneficial result of the new material’s emergence would be greatly reduced water consumption in both the manufacturing and construction phases. Numerous specific outputs/results are envisaged and specifically assigned as deliverables included in work packages.

You can contact our technicians for further information on this research area or  information about Spanish companies involved in this research.   AIDIMA CONTACT.

Supported by:

The Programme CIP Eco-innovation First Application and Market Replication Projects (European Commission).
Generalitat Valenciana IVACE . Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial.
European Union. European Regional Development Fund.