Treesearch

Effcient wood production and utilization requires knowing the wood quality attributes of forest resources relevant to various end uses, prescribing appropriate silvicultural treatments that positively influence wood quality, and then, at the time of harvesting, sorting and allocating standing timbers to the most appropriate markets [1–3]. The field of forestry has many widely accepted field tools, sampling procedures, and models for gathering and summarizing data and making projections of growth, yield, and tree size; however, counterparts for wood quality assessment have lagged behind...

Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, Durability and Wood Protection research work unit (FS RWU 4723) installs and/or observes plots of soil treated with candidate termiticide products. These products may or may not be available to pest management professionals (PMPs) for application, depending on federal and state registration. This article reports on the latest results of these studies, and provides data for those products that have reached federal registration. Data provided are limited to label-approved rates of application...

Wheat straw was rapidly fractionated using maleic acid (MA) as an acid hydrotrope at atmospheric pressure under a range of conditions. MA hydrotropic fractionation (MAHF) was very selective in dissolving lignin and hemicelluloses resulting in a cellulose-rich water insoluble solids (WIS), which was evaluated for producing fibers through bleaching and cellulosic nanofibrils by fibrillation, as well as glucose through enzymatic saccharification. The residual lignin (RL) within the WIS has a low degree of condensation, which eased bleaching. The RL was also carboxylated through MAHF, which...

While it is known that modifying the hydroxyls in wood can improve the decay resistance; what is often missing in the literature is whether these modifications alter wood nanostructure, and how these changes correlate to the improved decay resistance. Here, we used SANS to probe the effects of alkylene oxide modification on wood nanostructure. Southern pine wood samples were chemically modified to various weight percentage gains (WPG) using four different alkylene oxides: propylene oxide (PO), butylene oxide (BO), epichlorohydrin (EpH) and epoxybutene (EpB). After modification, the samples...

Wood pallets play a critical role in the movement and storage of goods worldwide. They are an important component in the complex global supply chain and used by almost every industry. It is therefore important to assess the environmental implications of the wood pallet supply chain and identify optimization strategies that can be implemented. In this paper, primary 2018 annual production data collected from U.S. pallet manufacturers were used to develop the first industry-average life-cycle inventory (LCI). A new functional unit was proposed to perform a more refined and accurate environmen...

This study assessed the environmental impacts and economic feasibility of generating heat using wood-briquettes (WBs), and heat and electricity using torrefied-wood-briquettes (TWBs). WBs and TWBs were manufactured from forest residues using portable systems and delivered to either residential consumers or power plants in the United States. An integrated cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) approach was used to quantify environmental impacts and minimum-selling prices (MSPs) of heat and electricity, respectively. Results illustrated that 82% and...

Purpose: Global demand for construction materials has grown exponentially in the last century, contributing to climate change and detrimental impacts on the ecosystem. To aid in sustainable growth and reduce our environmental footprint, renewable construction materials, such as lumber, have been incorporated into green building activities. The purpose of this study was to quantify the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing redwood lumber in northern California using the life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Methods: This study surveyed and visited redwood manufacturing...

Global construction industry has a huge influence on world primary energy consumption, spending, and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. To better understand these factors for mass timber construction, this work quantified the life cycle environmental and economic performances of a high-rise mass timber building in U.S. Pacific Northwest region through the use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA). Using the TRACI impact category method, the cradle-to-grave LCA results showed better environmental performances for the mass timber building relative to conventional...

Heartwood extracts of naturally durable wood species are often evaluated as alternatives to chemical wood preservatives, but field data from long-term performance testing are lacking. The current study evaluated the long-term (five-year) performance of two non-durable wood species treated with heartwood extracts of either Tectona grandis, Dalbergia sissoo, Cedrus deodara, or Pinus roxburghii alone or combined with linseed oil. Stakes (45.7 × 1.9 × 1.9 cm) and blocks (12.5 × 3.75 × 2.5 cm) cut from the sapwood of cottonwood and southern pine were vacuum-pressure impregnated with the...

Alternative specifcations of univariate asymmetric Laplace models are described and investigated. A more general mixture model is then introduced. Bivariate extensions of these models are discussed in some detail, with particular emphasis on associated parameter estimation strategies. Multivariate versions of the models are briefy introduced.