Wood-wastePanels

The project is implemented within the framework of the M-ERA.NET 3 Call 2022  network, which is related to research involving in materials science and engineering. The project is funded by the National Centre for Research and Development (Poland)  with national funds within the framework of multilateral international cooperation.

International consortium implementing the project: Riga Technical University, Latvia (Coordinator) Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, Institute of Heat Engineering, Poland (Polish consortium leader) Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Building Energy Process Laboratory (LOCIE), France Cewood Ltd (CEWOOD), Latvia Tomasz Bujnowski “Building with hemp” (Polish: „Budynki z konopi”), Poland

Project facts

• Total costs / Requested funding: €1 332 956 / €1 197 289, including the share of Warsaw University of Technology: €309 700 (1 466 584.34 PLN – national funding from NCBiR)
• Personnel: a team from the Division of Thermodynamics of the Institute of Heat Engineering, Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology
• Implementation period: 01.09.2023 - 31.08.2026

Project description

• The aim of the project is to develop novel manufacturing technology for building products – multi-layered panels – made of high-performance natural fiber composites, which will be developed using production wood wool cement board (WWCB) waste from the project partner CEWOOD Ltd, as well as construction demolition waste of WWCB. These panels will be cost-effective and have high hygro-thermal properties, which will give them the advantage of being used as enclosures and thermal insulation for buildings, including passive and nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB). The main benefits of the proposed building products are the rational use of local resources and sustainability, as significant CO2 savings can be achieved by avoiding landfill of bio-fibres and encapsulating them in new materials. They will also be energy-efficient, ecological, easy to recycle, and have low energy intensity. WWCB recycling methods will also include binder re-activation and separation of wood wool for secondary use.

The tasks of the Warsaw University of Technology team

• Measure the hygro-thermal properties of the developed composites;
• Develop a micro-scale based method for predicting the physical and thermal properties of the composites;
• Develop numerical (macroscale heat and moisture transfer model) and experimental (dedicated test rig) methods for testing the composites and building envelope elements under varying hygro-thermal conditions;
• Theoretical and experimental analysis of the behaviour of new panels made of new composites under real hygro-thermal conditions.