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Field performance of preserved shakes and shingles
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41000
Wood shakes and shingles are used in applications where they are at risk of decay, either in sidewall (UC3.1) or roofing (UC3.2) applications. Material durability may come from using the heartwood of naturally durable species, using preservative treatments, or both. Through a series of long-term field tests, this paper explores the performance of naturally durable and preserved shakes and shingles...
R Stirling, S Kus


Evaluation of vacuum borate treated spruce or pine CLT in an above ground protected test in southern Mississippi
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41001
Cross laminated timber (CLT) has become a popular wood composite in large building applications that were previously limited to concrete and steel. To extend service and prevent biological attack, chemical protectants are often applied to wood. Cross laminated timber panels are not typically treated, in part due to a lack of data on efficient and effective methods for treating large panels. Ther...
M E Mankowski, A Taylor, G T Kirker


How personality traits influence the perception of fungal decay in a wooden cladding – A survey in three Modelling wood moisture content in outdoor conditions from measured data
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41002
This study examined perceptions of fungal decay damage on wooden cladding across Norway, Sweden, and Germany. The majority of respondents across all countries did not find the fungal decay damage in question acceptable, with the least acceptance in Norway. This could be due to Norway having the highest frequency of wooden residential buildings and the most experience with maintaining wooden claddi...
G W Gustavsen, G Alfredsen, P B van Niekerk, J Niklewski, C Brischke


Modelling the service life of wood in ground contact – Verification of remotely sensed soil data from the reanalysis dataset ERA5-Land using in-situ measurements at a test site of utility poles in Eastern Norway
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41003
This study compared soil moisture and temperature estimates from the 5th European reanalysis (ERA5-Land) dataset with in-situ measurements to assess the accuracy and applicability of ERA5-Land data for modelling the service life of wood in ground contact. The ERA5-Land soil temperature estimates showed a moderate correlation with the in-situ temperature measurements (Spearman’s ρ of 0.73) and a...
U Hundhausen, P B van Niekerk, B Marais


Assessment of historical pilings from Lisbon
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41004
The renovation and rebuilding of areas in Lisbon has led to work on buildings constructed in the Pombaline downtown district. These buildings were constructed on wooden pilings, as a means of stabilising unstable soils and transfer the loads from buildings to soils with adequate bearing capacity. These methods also increased the resilience of the reconstruction works to future possible earthquakes...
D Jones, S Duarte, J A J Huber, L Nunes


Modelling wood moisture content in outdoor conditions from measured data
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41005
Sustainable use of wood requires an understanding of expected service life, particularly when the material is exposed to outdoor conditions and, thus, fungal decay. Since moisture is the primary vector for fungal decay, accurate moisture prediction is a key component in service life assessment. For this purpose, the present study leverages existing measured data for linear regression of in-field m...
J Niklewski, P B van Niekerk, L Meyer-Veltrup, J Sandak, C Brischke


Service life of poplar, a low durability hardwood
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41007
Hybrid poplar is the most common plantation hardwood of the temperate climate zone and is complementary to natural stands of aspen with mainly plantations in Europe and China. Poplar wood has been considered as a valid alternative for many of the construction applications of softwoods especially when considering engineered wood products. The natural durability of hybrid poplar is low and for a ra...
J Van Acker, X Jiang, L De Ligne, J van den Bulcke


Changes in decay risk of wood in ground contact over Europe, from analysis of historic climate conditions
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41008
Changing climate conditions will affect global temperature and precipitation patterns, shifting some geographical areas into states that are more suitable for fungal wood decay. Climate normals, which are taken over a 30-year period, capture vast spatial and temporal variations in these conditions and comparing these can show changes over time. Importantly, being able to identify locations that ha...
P B van Niekerk, B N Marais, G Alfredsen, C Brischke


Evaluation of mass timber materials for military and commercial trailer decking
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41009
In this study, CLT trailer decking was manufactured to current military trailer decking specifications, verified using PRG320 performance criteria, and treated with either waterborne or oil borne wood preservatives. Preliminary results show adequate uptake of preservative solution and subsequent testing shows minimal effect due to treatment. Field durability tests are also being conducted of treat...
G Kirker, A Senalik, X Wang, K Ohno, R Arango, M Mankowski, X Xie, J Eskola, N Kamprath, S Karwaczynski, M Weaver


Performance of Douglas-fir cross laminated timber (CLT) subjected to elevated humidity in a ground proximity field test for 6 years
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41010
The ability of insecticidal soil drenches or spray-on insecticide/fungicide treatments to protect mass timber elements exposed in a high moisture environment but out of direct soil contact was assessed using a modified AWPA ground proximity test established in 2017. Three-ply Douglas-fir CLT pieces measuring 305 x 355 x 105 mm (L x H x W) were installed at the Harrison Experimental Forest (HEF) (S...
M E Mankowski, J J Morrell, T G Shelton, G T Kirker


Leaching and chemical redistribution of CCA components in refractory heartwood of E. nitens
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41011
Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) is a wood preservative widely used to protect against fungal and insect attack. The fixation mechanism of CCA involves complex chemical reactions, including the reduction of chromium (VI) to chromium (III) and the formation of insoluble complexes. Despite fixation efforts, a portion of CCA components tends to leach from treated wood, influenced by factors like wood ...
J R Vargas, L Yermán, K C Wood, T Singh


Field facility for conducting wood durability tests at LSU Agricultural Center
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41012
Efforts by Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (LSU AgCenter) to conduct wood durability research on C. formosanus and other wood-related topics, have led to establishing three field research sites to test wood products against Formosan subterranean termites (New Orleans, La), and native subterranean termites (Franklinton, LA), and to test utility poles for outdoor exposure, decay resis...
Q Wu, J Curole


Field test method for wood in above ground situation - The full CEN/TC 38 guideline for the Sandwich method. Part 1 - Determining the relative protective effectiveness of a wood preservative
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41013
The attached draft CEN Technical Specification (i.e. pre-EN standard) has been drafted in order to become an alternative to the Lap-Joint test method (EN 12037:23) for testing of wood in above ground situation and the draft CEN/TS Part 1 is specifically intended for determining the relative protective effectiveness of a wood preservative. The new draft CEN/TS is based on a test method developed by...
M Westin, R Ringman, A Christof, F Friese


Durability of Malaysian plybamboo to mold
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41014
Durability of 3-layer plybamboo fabricated from two Malaysian bamboo species, Gigantochloa levis (beting) and Gigantochloa scortechinii (semantan) using three different adhesives - urea formaldehyde (UF), melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) and phenol resorcinal formaldehyde (PRF) was evaluated in this study. Samples were exposed to the mold, Aspergillus brasiliensis for 4-week following the ASTM D44...
S Lipeh, A Mustapha, A S Yusoh, M K A Uyup


Analysis and performance of spruce alternative species and discarded wood for windows production
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50386
Climate change is having a significant impact on European forestry, particularly on the softwood species used for window frames. This study investigates potential replacement tree species for spruce (Picea abies), the predominant material for window frames. We evaluate Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), thermally modified poplar (Populus nigra) and discarded silver...
B Lesar, J Levanič, M Humar, A Treu


Keeping wood greenest: Maximizing the unique benefits of preserved wood through end-of-life planning to realize carbon sequestration and a circular economy
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50387
While competitive fuels and different energy sources are a main driver of current difficulties with using end-of-life wood products for fuel, that is a potentially smaller problem than the rapidly changing carbon footprints of competitive materials, which can potentially be smaller than wood, if the wrong decisions are made at the end of life by users and waste generators. While users have several...
J D Lloyd, B Poe


Bio-based thermal insulation panels – a way of cascading utilization of post-consumer wood
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50388
Cascading wood utilization is critical to fulfilling a circular economy frame in the wood industry. The work's aim was to apply wood dust from plywood production to the production of innovative bio-based thermal insulation panels. Trametes hirsute fungus was used as a composite binder, and then a composite structure and thermal insulation properties, water absorbability, and strength properties of...
W Perdoch, A Szelag


Levels of chromated copper arsenate in aged radiata pine vineyard posts
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50389
At the Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life, Australia a cooperative project is underway with Forest and Wood Products Australia, supported by a consortium of timber producers, chemical suppliers and timber users to identify alternative pathways for treated timber and EWP’s. Under this initiative, we are focusing on establishing the current and forecasting future volumes of treated timbe...
T Singh, T Yi, P Mitchell, J Norton


Copper migration from preservative-treated Douglas-fir decking: models vs laboratory leaching data
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50390
The ability of a model to predict copper migration from Douglas-fir treated with organic metallic substances into a freshwater slough was evaluated against data generated through simulated overhead leaching. The model predicted very high loadings of ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate, alkaline copper quaternary or copper azole that had the potential to impact water quality while data from the exper...
M J Konkler, G Presley, J J Morrell, T Singh


Quantifying metal migration from a deck constructed with copper-azole-treated lumber
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50391
Soluble copper or micronized copper wood preservatives are the most common available wood preservative systems for residential applications in the United States. Copper containing wood preservatives have been scrutinized for their potential negative impacts on the environment, across many jurisdictions. Concerns arise from the potential for preservatives to migrate out of treated wood upon water e...
G Presley, M Konkler


Exploring the migration of creosote in freshwater environments: A study on treated wood immersion
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50392
Creosote is used as a wood preservative in aquatic environments and contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as active ingredients. It is critical to quantify the impact of these commodities on the environment to ensure specific uses of these commodities complies with federal and state regulatory standards for water bodies. This study explores Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) migration patte...
I Rashidijouybari, M Konkler, K Quigley, G Presley


Quantitative assessment of wood preservative emissions to waterways
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50393
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Emission Scenario Document (ESD) for Wood Preservatives provides methods to quantify the release of active substances from treated wood for various scenarios including sheet pilings in a flowing waterway (OECD 2013). The ESD is used for environmental risk assessment of wood preservatives according to the Biocidal Products Regulation...
K J Rader, R Carbonaro, C Mackie


Phytosanitary treatment of roundwood for oversea shipping - on the suitability of dry heat treatment as alternative to climate-change effective fumigation
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50394
The transcontinental trade of roundwood requires thorough phytosanitary treatment to protect native flora and fauna against foreign pests. This is generally done by fumigating shipping containers packed with roundwood with sulfuryl fluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. After treatment, the gas is released into the atmosphere, causing massive emissions. Since 2017, the usage of sulfuryl fluoride in th...
G Weber, L Schrader, J Trautner


Overview of Canadian CRD wood waste recycling ecosystem
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50395
One of the main constituents of solid waste in Canada is waste from the construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) sector. Therefore, there are strong social, economic and ecological needs to reduce the generation of CRD waste and to increase the volume diverted from landfills and incineration. However, as the CRD waste management is not a simple ecosystem, it does require a comprehensive appro...
G Boivin, D Schorr


Biofabrication of composite materials – Utilizing lignocellulosic biomass and mycelium in 3D printing
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50396
In this research, we investigated the potential of utilising lignocellulosic biomass and mycelium for 3D printing applications to develop sustainable biocomposite materials. Our study began with a systematic investigation of various fungal cultures, including Pleurotus ostreatus, Schizophyllum commune, Ganoderma resinaceum, Trametes versicolor and Gloeophyllum trabeum, in combination with substrat...
D Krzisnik, B Žuran, M Kariž, M Humar


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