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Evaluation of decay fungi in Norwegian buildings
2005 - IRG/WP 05-10562
During a period of 2 years and 3 months (1 January 2001 - 20 March 2003) Mycoteam had 3161 consultations in buildings in southern Norway, 1428 revealing damage from decay fungi. One consultation often revealed several occurrences of fungi, and the total number of occurrences of decay fungi was 3434. Thirty-five different species/genera/groups of decay fungi were recorded. During this period brown ...
G Alfredsen, H Solheim, K Mohn Jenssen


A roadmap for performance-based specification of wooden components based on service life prediction
2007 - IRG/WP 07-20351
The need for an unified and harmonised system for performance classification and specification of wood and wood-based products in Europe emanates from requirements of users and the European Construction Products Directive, CPD. A road to a feasible specification system is outlined. Exposure-related performance prediction was worked out as a key task on the way to product specification. Therefore s...
C Brischke, A O Rapp


Control of Moisture Content in Wood Materials for Mold Growth
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10630
Mold growth on wood materials is a major concern for house owners, as it can cause health and aesthetic problems. Mold fungi, present everywhere, usually appear as black or gray patches on wood surfaces in humid environments, and are common in houses. Like any living organism, molds need food, water, oxygen, and a specific temperature range in order to grow. To avoid mold growth on wood materia...
Dian-Qing Yang


Do insects infest wood packing material with bark following heat-treatment?
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10633
As a result of international trade, many bark- and wood-infesting insects are inadvertently transported in wood packing materials (WPM) such as crating, dunnage, and pallets. WPM is suspected as the likely pathway for most of these borers, although the exact mode of entry into the USA is unknown for all 25 borers. The top 10 countries of origin were, in decreasing order, Italy, Germany, China, Spa...
R A Haack, T R Petrice, P Nzokou, D P Kamdem


Difficulties applying Heat Treatment according to ISPM No. 15, when fast growth species are used
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40386
In 2002, the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) adopted the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No. 15 (Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade). Two treatments are recognized: Heat Treatment (HT), in which wood must be heated to a core temperature of 56°C for 30 minutes, and fumigation with methyl bromide. As the last treatme...
O Encinas, J. I Briceño


Brief introduction of a research project on the wood materials from an ancient Byzantine port unearthed during drilling for underground rail tunnel in Istanbul
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10641
A research project has been recently started to evaluate some properties of wooden materials from the biggest port of ancient times called Port of Theodosius I in Istanbul, Turkey. The ruins of the ancient Byzantine port during the excavations were recently uncovered in the Yenikapi site where an underground rail tunnel construction has been in progress in Istanbul. The wooden objects unearthed fr...
A D Dogu, C Köse, S N Kartal, N Erdin


A preliminary note on the role of moisture absorption rate in durability assessment
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20383
The rate of moisture uptake was studied in 15 wood species using vermiculite at varying moisture levels as the exposure medium. As might be expected, moisture uptake varied widely among the species studied. While some of the more durable wood species were also resistant to moisture uptake, this was not always true. The results are discussed in relation to performance in under varying environmenta...
J J Morrell, L P Francis


Termites y otros insectos xiliofagos en bienes arquitectonicos monumentos nacionalos de Colombia
2009 - IRG/WP 08-10679
The incidence of termites and other wood destroying insects was surveyed in ten historical buildings in Colombia. The most common insects were termites (Kalotermes, Cryptotermes, Heterotermes), although numerous decay organisms were also detected, including beetles (Anobium, Lyctus, Cerambycids) and various wood decaying fungi. Structural wood elements were classified according to the degree of a...
M G Ramírez


The amazing wooden churches from Northern Romania - learning from the past, restoring for the future, preserving the present valuable heritage of forgotten wood building tradition
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10683
The beauty and the uniqueness of the north-western region of Romania called “Maramureş” are well known in Europe. Surrounded by mountains, the region remained to some extend isolated from modern influences, preserving the local village architecture and craftsman traditions learnt and passed on from generation to generation. Local folklore and past heritage sets you back centuries ago when...
R Craciun, R Möller


Building with termites: The challenge of biomimetic design for carbon neutral buildings.
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20405
The main aim of this paper is to present humanity and termites as design partners in the creation of a new dimension of ecosystem understanding. “Beyond biomimicry: What termites can tell us about realizing the living building”, Turner and Soar (2008) opens up a new era in how we think of human habitations, not only on earth, but maybe on other planets, and using the termite model as the corne...
J R J French, B M Ahmed (Shiday)


Evaluation of exposure conditions for wooden facades and decking
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20408
During their functional life, building components are exposed to moisture and other environment stress conditions in numerous ways. This is a fact that should be taken into account during manufacture, product development, designing and work execution of building components. For wood material, moisture stress and biological factors like mould and decay fungi are often critical in cladding and decki...
H Viitanen, T Toratti, R Peuhkuri, T Ojanen, L Makkonen


Eco-Friendly Composites from Bagasse and Soy-based Resin
2009 - IRG/WP 09-40462
In this study, bagasse and soy-based resin were used for producing composite materials. The objective of this study was evaluation of some physical and mechanical properties of boards made of various ratios (100:0, 60:40, 40:60 and 0:100) of bagasse to wood fiber mixtures (wt: wt) with addition of Soy/PF resin at three levels (4, 8 and 10%) and 1.5% wax. All properties were tested according to AST...
G Rassam, B Jamnani


Estimating the age of subterranean termite attack and damage in buildings
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10727
This paper describes physical and experimental methods and a mathematical model (Rotramel 2003) to assist in estimating the age of subterranean termite attack and damage to building structures. Timber, building and termite management industries have to develop new strategies to assess and estimate termite attack and damage in the current climate of global warming. A case study will be used as an e...
J R J French, B M Ahmed Shiday, J Thorpe


Termite legislation in France: Termite control measures and prevention rules in building construction
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20448
Reticulitermes subterranean termites are considered as urban pests in France because they are harmful for wood-based in the South and the southwestern quarter of the country. Since November 2006 new protective measures of building construction have been introduced by the French parliament which must be applied across the country and in overseas territories to prevent termite infestations. All new ...
M Kutnik, M Jequel, I Paulmier, D Ansard


Mould growth on wood-based materials – a comparative study
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20455
Ten different wood-based materials - preservative-treated wood, fire retardant-treated wood, modified wood, WPCs and untreated references of pine sapwood and spruce - were tested for mould growth according to SP method 2899 during 42 days at 90% RH and 22°C. Even though the results must be interpreted carefully, they indicate significant differences in mould resistance between the materials tes...
P Johansson, J Jermer


Extruded wood plastic composites based on ACQ and MCQ-treated wood materials
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40495
This paper deals with wood plastic composites manufactured using ACQ and MCQ-treated wood fibers recovered from a wood treatment plant. The goal was to investigate the effect of coupling treatments on the properties of manufactured wood plastic composites (WPCs) through injection molding and to manufacture co-extruded WPC with treated wood fibers. The result demonstrated sound mechanical propertie...
Qinglin Wu, Fei Yao, K Ragon, J Curole, M Voitier, T Shupe


Determination of Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) of wood in the neighboring Countries of Iran
2011 - IRG/WP 10-40540
The mean value of annual temperature and relative humidity of 33 cities in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq and Turkey were determined using climatic data of the past 11 years. The EMC values were calculated using the Hailwood-Horrobin sorption model and its annual fluctuation, together with Temperature and relati...
A A Enayati, H Z Hosseinabadi


Increased sustainability for wood construction by recycling
2011 - IRG/WP 10-50275
Wood is the only renewable and certified industrially available construction material that has also unique opportunities as carbon storing, energy-independent and generally approved resource. However, if burning into energy is not counted, there are only few viable and competitive solutions for re-use or recycling of various wood products. The biggest challenge related to recycling of wood product...
H Heräjärvi, I Pirhonen, T Räty, P Saukkola


Growth conditions for fungal decay in wooden constructions – practical experience versus literature
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10758
Data regarding moisture and temperature requirements of decay fungi found in literature have been compared to experience from observations in a large number of Norwegian buildings. A number of selected situations are discussed, among those exposure to high relative humidity, exposure to free water and decay in the supposedly adverse conditions on Svalbard. The moisture content in wood has to be at...
M Sand Sivertsen, J Mattsson


Improving our understanding of moisture and other durability-related properties of wood in building envelope performance prediction
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20468
Building science has become an increasingly important field in recent years with rapid changes in construction methods, building materials and consumer expectations. The field has also been brought to prominence by a few large-scale premature building envelope failures in a few regions across the world. Considerable effort has been put into developing hygrothermal models to simulate heat, air, vap...
Jieying Wang, P Morris


Classification of wood materials using Fourier Transform Near Infrared Spectroscopy and multivariate analysis
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20471
A distinction between preservative-treated wood and non-treated wood can be demonstrated by the combination of Fourier Transform-Near Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-NIRS) and Multivariate Analysis (MVA). This technique is non-destructive, quick, easy to use and can be portable. The calibration models for different heavy metals are set up using principal component analysis (PCA) to classify species of t...
M A Bouslamti, M A Irle, C Belloncle, V Salvador, S Hulot, B Caron, E M Qannan


Termite resistance of timber envelope treated with imidacloprid then modified by typical building site operations
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30570
Imidacloprid is a new envelope insecticide approved by Australian regulatory authorities for framing timber. It is a non repellent insecticide. Results are reported for timber envelope treated with imidacloprid and altered post treatment with typical building site operations to expose untreated surfaces. These modifications included, cutting, notching and drilling. Pinus radiata timber samples w...
K Day, A Siraa, P Lobb


Life Cycle Assessment Comparison of Treated Wood to Alternate Materials – Overview, Results and Lessons
2011 - IRG/WP 11-50282
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has proven useful in documenting the “green” benefits of various treated products compared to the commonly used alternates. To date, six LCA comparisons have been done or are nearing completion using ISO14040 and 14044 principles and data from US EPA databases. In almost all cases, the impact indicators for treated wood products show considerably smaller adverse e...
T Stephen, P E Smith, C R McIntyre


In-situ experimental treatment and consolidation of degraded timber elements from a XIX century building
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10767
This paper presents the in situ experimental conservation work performed on three timber structural elements from a XIX century building: two floor beams and one roof beam. The palace was built in 1877 in the centre of Lisbon initially with residential purposes. It has four floors, with timber structural horizontal elements, stairs and roof beams (generally of Pinus sylvestris L.). The exterior wa...
D F Henriques, J de Brito, L Nunes


Durability of wooden shop-name signage coated with Urushi lacquer and gold leaf attached to the facade of building in Japan
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20493
Wooden shop-name signage plated with gold leaf is one of the characteristics of newly developed westernized commercial buildings appeared after the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 in Japan. The signage still remains mainly in old districts. The signage with independent letters (Chinese character) shows off the name of the shop with golden colour on the façade of building. The number of these shops...
K Yamamoto, M Kiguchi


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