Treesearch

This study evaluated the effects on forest resources and forest product markets of three contrasting mass timber demand scenarios (Conservative, Optimistic, and Extreme), up to 2060, in twelve selected countries in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. Analyses were carried out by utilizing the FOrest Resource Outlook Model, a partial market equilibrium model of the global forest sector. The findings suggest increases in global softwood lumber production of 8, 23, and 53 million m3 per year by 2060, under the Conservative, Optimistic, and Extreme scenarios, respectively, leading...

Cross laminated timber is becoming a popular manufactured building material that offers a safe and environmentally friendly alternative in large building applications that were previously limited to concrete and steel. Preservatives are often applied to wood products to protect them from decay and extend their service life. However, CLT panels are typically not treated due, in part, to a lack of efficient and effective methods for treating large panels and a lack of information on what impact the treatment process has on the panels’ mechanical properties. In this work, a variety of CLT...

Mass Timber, mostly highlighted herein as cross laminated timber, is a growing market in North America with hundreds of new projects either in preparation or underway. This material is an innovation in wood-based design and construction and represents an opportunity to transform building practice away from less sustainable materials such as concrete and steel. However, wood is still a biodegradable resource and it is important to understand what limitations, or at least precautions, should be taken to ensure its proper use. Since 2015, the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) RWU 4723 (Wood...

Unseasoned (green) red and white oak bridge timbers and crossties were pre-treated with boron rods installed at equal distances along the length of the timbers. Moisture content and boron levels were examined at 15, 30, 50, 80, and 130 weeks after rod installation and subsequent treatment with creosote. Moisture content for both wood species remained high (above 50%) for the duration of the test period, well above the 30% moisture content needed for boron diffusion. Passive dual treatment with fused borate rods resulted in high boron loadings in both hardwood species, particularly in the...

Raw materials for buildings and construction account for more than 35% of global primary energy use and nearly 40% of energy-related CO₂ emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized the drastic reduction in GHG emissions and thus, wood products with very low or negative carbon footprint materials can play an important role. In this study, a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was followed to quantify the environmental impacts of laminated strand lumber (LSL). The inventory data represented North American LSL production in terms of input...

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the construction and operation of buildings accounted for nearly 38% of total global energy-related CO₂ emissions in 2019. The construction sector has been striving to use more low-carbon footprint building products to mitigate climate change and enhance environmentally preferable purchasing. Over the last several decades, there has been substantial growth in engineered wood products for the construction industry. To assess these products used in construction for their environmental profile, life cycle assessments (LCAs) are...

The building industry currently consumes over a third of energy produced and emits 39% of greenhouse gases globally produced by human activities. The manufacturing of building materials and the construction of buildings make up 11% of those emissions within the sector. Whole-building life-cycle assessment is a holistic and scientific tool to assess multiple environmental impacts with internationally accepted inventory databases. A comparison of the building lifecycle assessment results would help to select materials and designs to reduce total environmental impacts at the early planning...

To properly evaluate the reliability of lumber structures, good models for the strength distributions of their components are needed. Modulus of rupture (MOR) distributions of grades of structural lumber have often been modeled as two-parameter Weibulls. However, in a series of papers, Verrill and others have established that strength properties of visual and machine stress rated grades of lumber are not distributed as two-parameter Weibulls and that modeling them as two-parameter Weibulls can yield large over- or underestimates of probabilities of breakage. Instead, grades of lumber have...

Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) has potential to be used as a reinforcement in polymeric nanocomposites because of their inherent biodegradability, universal accessibility, and superior mechanical properties. The most crucial challenge faced in the nanocomposite production is dispersing the nanoparticles effectively in the polymer matrix, so that the exceptional mechanical properties of the nanoparticles can be transferred to the macroscale properties to the bulk nanocomposites. In this research, a safe, effective and ecofriendly modification was used to functionalize the surface hydroxyl...

This Minireview provides a comprehensive discussion on the potential of using acid hydrotropes for sustainably fractionating lignocelluloses for biorefinery applications. Acid hydrotropes are a class of acids that have hydrotrope properties toward lignin, which helps to solubilize lignin in aqueous systems. With the capability of cleaving ether and ester bonds and even lignin-carbohydrate complex (LCC) linkages, these acid hydrotropes can therefore isolate lignin embedded in the plant biomass cell wall and subsequently solubilize the isolated lignin in aqueous systems. Performances of two...