Durability and Eco-effiency

The overall goal of EcoBuild is to develop eco-efficient and durable materials and products. This research area, hence, is the core activity within the EcoBuild centre and involves all other projects in a matrix fashion.

The durability of the materials and products developed within the other technology areas are evaluated in many different respects.

The main performance indicators are the enhancements of resistance to:

A) decay by microbes (fungi and bacteria) and attack by insects and marine borers

B) Fire

C) Weathering (UV and moisture)

D) Chemical stress.  

The durability is evaluated in accelerated laboratory set-ups and field tests combined with mechanical testing, microscopic analysis and chemical analysis. Properties of moisture sorption and wood-polymer interface are evaluated before and after cyclic climatic ageing.

Eco-efficient materials refer here to sustainable materials where demands on both economical and ecological issues have to be fulfilled. Emissions to air, soil and water from the different materials and products are analyzed. Eco-toxicological testing is performed on leaching waters (with aquatic organisms, e.g. marine bacteria, algae and crustaceans) and soils (growth rate of seedlings). From the data achieved service life prediction (PSL) and Life Cycle Assessment can be made.

So-called Basic Research Projects involve topics such as:

-       Wood-polymer-water adhesion mechanisms

-       Wood-water relations

-       Wood permeability, including both liquid and vapour phase

-       Dimensional stability of wood

-       Micromorphology and interfacial characteristics of wood-polymer combinations

-       Micromechanics of wood and wood composites

Several projects within this research area cut across a range of products developed in the other four areas. Each project is coordinated by a leader, recruited from one of the participating industries, from a university or from a research institute.