IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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Proposal for a method aiming at the quantification of the impact of wood extraction in Life Cycle Assessment
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50113
Life Cycle Assessment has been accepted as an instrument for the assessment of the environmental impact of products. Characterisation factors for impact assessment of emissions from products have been established. To date no characterisation factor exists for the extraction of biotic resources, for example wood. Since the main disadvantage of using wood as a material lies in the extraction of reso...
P Esser, E Van der Voet


Performance of preservative-treated timber commodities in above-ground service tests
1995 - IRG/WP 95-20064
Service tests established by NZ FRI are of commodities where treatment has been undertaken in commercial plants and although such data as preservative uptake of individual items is recorded and sample analysis undertaken, material is usually "run-of-mill" for the commodity being treated. The NZ FRI Service Test database includes a wide range of preservative/species combinations in virtually all ab...
M E Hedley, D R Page


Chemical and biological investigations of double-vacuum treated windows after 7½ years in service
1985 - IRG/WP 3339
Earlier investigations of double-vacuum treated windows after five years in service have shown that tributyltin oxide (TBTO) degrades to di- and monobutyltin compounds and that the resistance of the wood against decay decreases. An investigation 2.5 years later of the same windows shows that the degradation of TBTO proceeds fast. After 7.5 years in service only 15-35% of the remaining organotin co...
M-L Edlund, J Jermer, B Henningsson, W Hintze


Benzalkonium chloride (an AAC preservative): Criteria for approval, performance in service, and implications for the future
1985 - IRG/WP 3328
The data base generated for benzalkonium chloride was considered adequate for commercial approvals, particularly after revision in late 1982. Field trials, although not part of the approval criteria, generally supported commercial use; decay observed in one test (post and rails) after 6 years' exposure would have resulted in some caution in setting retentions. No laboratory trial, nor fie...
J A Butcher


CCA-treated Wood Disposed in Landfills and Life-cycle Trade-Offs With Waste-to-Energy and MSW Landfill Disposal
2005 - IRG/WP 05-50231
CCA-treated wood as a solid waste is managed in various ways throughout the world. Although some wood is combusted for the production of energy in the U.S., more often than not, CCA-treated wood is disposed in landfills. In other countries, wood, often including CCA-treated wood, is combusted for the production of energy. This paper is presented in two parts. Part I evaluates the impact of CCA-tre...
J Jambeck, K Weitz, T G Townsend, H M Solo-Gabriele


Preliminary desk research in the Netherlands on development of a Knowledge Based System for Life Cycle Assessment of wood products
1997 - IRG/WP 97-50093
TNO is currently coordinating an EC-project (LIFE-SYS WOOD) to develop a consistent approach to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of wood products. Existing and new LCA-inventory data of six wood products will be evaluated on reliability and consistency. After validation, LCA-results will be made available through a Knowledge Based System (by 1998-1999). The aim of the KBS is to make LCA-results availab...
P Esser, D Robson, R Vanhauten


A technique for determining the efficacy of water diffusible preservative plugs for implanting in joinery in service
1987 - IRG/WP 2291
A technique is described for determining the efficacy of soluble, diffusible preservative plugs for eradicating decay in joinery. It uses blocks of Scots pine sapwood or heartwood adjusted to known moisture contents prior to the establishment of the test fungus Coniophora puteana, from a single longitudinal dowel and the subsequent introduction of the preservative plugs. Prevention of decay, eradi...
J K Carey, A F Bravery


Life cycle approached environmental information to promote treated timber
2005 - IRG/WP 05-50224-13
This paper exemplifies the possibilities to compare products and product systems with help of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool for environmental assessment. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has developed a concept for evaluation of environmental impacts based on normalisation, based on so called environmental quality objectives (EQO). This concept makes it possible to compare a pr...
M Erlandsson


Comparative study of blue stain resistance of various types of wood stains after artificial and natural weathering
1992 - IRG/WP 92-2411
For the determination of the protective effectiveness of a preservative treatment against blue stain in service, artificial weathering has been proposed as an alternative for the natural weathering period of 6 months in the European standard EN 152. Research on a range of products and on complete finishing systems for external joinery was conducted during 1986-1990. It revealed that the decisions ...
J Van Acker, M Stevens, M Nys


Life Cycle Assessment of borate treated wood
2005 - IRG/WP 05-50224-12
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is being used increasingly around the world by decision-makers to help incorporate the environmental component of sustainability into their activities. U.S. Borax regularly assesses how its products contribute to sustainable development. Using data gleaned from LCA of its products, the company recently completed its first ISO 14040 compliant cradle-to-grave LCA of lum...
M J Manning


Amenability of radial permeability of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) as affected by aspects of cell ends in uniseriate ray parenchyma tissue
2003 - IRG/WP 03-40252
The principal objective of this article was to recognise and understand the amenability of ray parenchyma cell ends (end platform) in uniseriate ray tissue to influence the radial permeability of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) by examination of most (Queen Charlotte Islands in Rhondda, South Wales) and the least (South Oregon in Dalby, North-East England) seed origins that grown in ...
I Usta, M D C Hale


Residual CCA levels in CCA treated poles removed from service
2000 - IRG/WP 00-50152
Fifty-two CCA treated poles removed from service after 1 - 50 years were sampled at different depths from their below ground and above ground zones and the preservative levels and mass balances related to the location in the pole and pole age. Generally CCA retentions were still well above the toxic threshold for decay in even the oldest poles. This confirms the good leach resistance of CCA and th...
P A Cooper, D Jeremic, J L Taylor


Leachability of active ingredients from some CCA treated and creosoted poles in service. A progress report after 10 years testing
1990 - IRG/WP 3627
CCA K33 TYPE B treated or creosoted poles, 10 pieces of each treatment type, have been monitored from the treatment plant to an electricity line, which was build up in Southern Finland in 1978. Preservative retention was determined by taking borings at four different levels: 1.5 m from the top end, 1 m above ground line, ground line and 0.5 m below ground. Determinations were made before setting u...
A J Nurmi


Blue stain in timber in service. Progress review of Sub-group collaborative tests - 1981/82
1982 - IRG/WP 2178
Following from the discussions after reporting Document IRG/WP/2146 at the Meeting in Sarajevo, 1981, it was decided that 1.) more precise definition was needed of the artificial weathering schedules used in the work - participants to re-check Table 8 and send further details or amendments to Dr Bravery; 2.) a further test employing a wider range of chemicals was necessary using a smaller range of...
A F Bravery, D J Dickinson


Direct analysis from wood of the blue stain fungi Aureobasidium pullulans and Hormonema dematioides by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10595
Aureobasidium pullulans and Hormonema dematioides are the two organisms used in the EN 152 laboratory method for determining the effectiveness of preservatives against blue stain in service. The literature concerning the disfigurement of surface coatings and exposed timber in-service states that A. pullulans is the dominant blue stain fungus, due to its frequent isolation from stained material. In...
M J Ray, D J Dickinson


End Coating Masson Pine Grown in South China to Prevent the Development of Blue Stain
2007 - IRG/WP 07-30428
One end (randomly selected) of logs of mason pine (Pinus massoniana) were coated with a wax-type end coating called ANCHORSEAL® immediately after tree cutting. The logs were then stored in summer weather in Guangxi, China. During the storage, at week 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12, five logs of mason pine were sawn into lumber or veneer for the visual observation and measurement of blue stain at the coa...
Zhao Youke, Qin Li, Huang Rongfeng, Lu Jianxiong


Radial flow of Bornmullerian fir (Abies bornmulleriana Mattf.) as affected by wood tapering and the condition of end wall structure of uniseriate ray parenchyma cells
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40441
Amenability to radial permeability of Bornmullerian fir (Abies bornmulleriana Mattf.) was studied on the base of the effects of wood tapering and the structure of end walls of uniseriate ray parenchyma cells. The results showed that the most remarkable culprits of the greatest fluid uptake (as the percentage of void volume filled by the fluid in the radial flow direction, RVVF%) are the lesser woo...
I Usta, S Aslan


Performance of dip and pressure treated wood in termite ground proximity exposures in Hilo, HI, and Colombia
2008 - IRG/WP 08-30491
A number of preservative systems were evaluated for their ability to control termite attack when applied as both dip and pressure treatments. With dip treatments, better performance was observed with southern pine than spruce-pine-fir using the same solution strength treatment, probably as a result of the about 50% greater uptake with southern pine and associated deeper preservative penetration. B...
P Walcheski, A Zahora


Factors affecting sodium hypochlorite extraction of CCA preservative components from out of service treated wood for recycling
2009 - IRG/WP 09-50263
Significant amounts of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood products such as utility poles and residential constructions remain in service. There is an increasing public concern about environmental contamination from CCA treated wood when it is removed from service for reuse or recycling, placed in landfills or burned in commercial incinerators. In this paper, we investigate the effects of...
E D Gezer, P A Cooper


Life Cycle Assessment of treated timber: methodological aspects and first results
2009 - IRG/WP 09-50264
Environmental information on products is more and more required as a key to the market, and the building sector in Europe is certainly advanced in that direction. In France, Environmental Product Declarations are becoming very common for construction products. Therefore, the CTB P+ and CTB B+ certification comity as commissioned FCBA to perform the Life Cycle Analysis of treated timber in order to...
E Vial, M Bertrand, C Cornillier, G Deroubaix


Non-destructive evaluation of termite and decay damaged to timber-in- service
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20451
A leading joint research project was financed by the ARC, engaging some of the leading Universities in Australia, to look at field techniques to determine if timber-in-service is infested with termites and decay fungi after which microwave technology will be employed to eliminate the termites and/or decay in-situ. The next step will be to quantify the damage caused on the sectional dimensions of t...
C Adam, B M Ahmed Shiday, G Brodie


Use of Internal Remedial Treatment to Extend Wood Life at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30525
The condition of wood in a reconstructed fur trading fort was assessed over a 30 year period. Poor initial treatment had resulted in the development of extensive early decay. While supplemental treatment with chloropicrin and methylisothiocyanate had arrested the attack, the results suggested that remedial treatments were unable to completely overcome the initial problems associated with treatmen...
C S Love, C Freitag, J J Morrell


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


WOOD: its importance in our life
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40583
As it is described by Hoadley (1980) and Tsoumis (1991), wood is an organic material yielded by trees which increase in diameter by the formation of new woody layers which envelop the entire stem. Wood has served man since he appeared on Earth (as a fuel and/or as a construction material for making houses, tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, paper, and artworks). It is important to appreciate th...
I Usta


Guideline for Environmental Product Declaration for Thermally Modified Timber
2012 - IRG/WP 12-50287
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) intend to enable the comparison of the environmental attributes of products that meet equivalent functional requirements. This guideline describes the proceedings of EPD for thermally modified timber (TMT). The main objective is the general survey on requirements on EPD which are based on European and international standards.Up to now only a few EPDs for na...
L Clauder


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