{"id":61881,"date":"2019-04-01T07:29:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T05:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=61881"},"modified":"2019-03-27T13:37:34","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T12:37:34","slug":"wsu-turning-recycled-carbon-fiber-into-green-building-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wsu-turning-recycled-carbon-fiber-into-green-building-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"WSU turning recycled carbon fiber into green building materials"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"CLT-press-at-WSU-1188x792-792x528\"<\/a>
WSU is the only university in the U.S. with a production\u2011scale CLT manufacturing system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Washington State University researchers are working with a Port\u00a0Angeles nonprofit organization to develop new housing materials from heat\u2011treated wood and recycled carbon\u00a0fiber used in Boeing airplanes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers from WSU\u2019s Composite Materials and Engineering Center (CMEC) are assisting the Composites Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) in Port\u00a0Angeles to produce construction\u2011grade cross\u2011laminated timber (CLT). A demonstration panel for the first phase of the project will be on display from March\u00a019\u201321 at the 2019 International Mass\u00a0Timber Conference<\/a> in Portland,\u00a0Ore.<\/p>\n

Cross\u2011laminated timber is a relatively new building material in the U.S. that has significant advantages in sustainability over many traditional housing materials, said Don Bender<\/a>, CMEC\u00a0director and Weyerhaeuser Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who is the lead investigator for WSU.<\/p>\n

CLT can be made from small\u2011diameter timber that is thinned from forests to improve forest health and to reduce wildfire risk. Using the timber in CLT, instead of allowing it to burn, reduces polluting carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, said Bender.<\/p>\n

To convert the timber to a more durable, stable construction material, the researchers are investigating thermally modified lumber. Thermal modification makes the wood more resistant to decay, and less prone to shrinking and swelling as the moisture conditions change. Its compact layering also creates an air\u00a0tight building material, which can reduce a building\u2019s energy usage and costs. Furthermore, CLT panels are prefabricated with little waste on site.<\/p>\n

Because CLT can be erected quickly, it also makes for an ideal building material for buildings that require simple and fast construction, ranging from schools to disaster shelters.<\/p>\n

Thermal modification of wood slightly reduces its strength, so the researchers will be adding recycled carbon\u00a0fiber to CLT to restore the strength. Recycled carbon\u00a0fiber costs about one\u2011tenth as much as virgin\u00a0fiber.<\/p>\n

This project comes amidst growing excitement about wood\u2011based construction in Washington state. The state\u2019s building code council has recently allowed the structural use of cross\u2011laminated and other forms of mass\u00a0timber in buildings as tall as 18\u00a0stories.<\/a> Governor Jay Inslee also recently signed a bill that encourages state and local governments to include mass\u00a0timber construction in local building and zoning codes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow suddenly timber is an option for mid\u2011rise buildings,\u201d said Bender.<\/p>\n

The first real\u2011world application for the carbon\u00a0fiber\u2011reinforced wood composite created for the project will likely be military housing. The project\u2019s end\u00a0goal is development of a new manufacturing facility on the Olympic Peninsula, which could create as much as 50\u00a0new jobs in the region. Port\u00a0Angeles, located near the Olympic National Forest, has an abundance of western hemlock trees, which are usually seen as less commercially valuable and could be used for CLT\u00a0manufacturing. The Port of Port\u00a0Angeles provided a seed grant for the project.<\/p>\n

Bender says the project ties into WSU\u2019s mission as a land\u00a0grant university, serving the residents and companies of Washington state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the potential to create not just new jobs but an entire new industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contacts<\/h3>\n

Don Bender
\nWSU Composite Materials and Engineering Center Director and Weyerhaeuser Distinguished Professor
\nPhone: 509\u2011335\u20112829
\nE-Mail: bender@wsu.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington State University researchers are working with a Port\u00a0Angeles nonprofit organization to develop new housing materials from heat\u2011treated wood and recycled carbon\u00a0fiber used in Boeing airplanes. Researchers from WSU\u2019s Composite Materials and Engineering Center (CMEC) are assisting the Composites Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) in Port\u00a0Angeles to produce construction\u2011grade cross\u2011laminated timber (CLT). A demonstration panel for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[12447,11785,5820],"supplier":[15592,2878],"class_list":["post-61881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-buildingmaterials","tag-composites","tag-wood","supplier-composite-recycling-technology-center-crtc","supplier-washington-state-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61881"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=61881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}