Forest Service/USDA Wood Innovations Grants
Recipient Point of Contact: Karl R. Englund
Location: Pullman, Washington
Summary
The durability of wood has always limited mass adoption into many markets. With CLT, wood’s perceived ineffective performance when exposed to bio-deterioration and fire has many customers hesitant to commit to a mass timber structure. Our project will evaluate a commercial ready process to pretreat the lamstock of CLT panels with a variety of borate-based treatment options. By treating the lamstock prior to CLT fabrication, a more homogeneous treatment is realized, making a more durable panel that can be implemented in areas prone to high humidity and mitigate risks associated with durability. Our work will provide a commercial-ready solution that can be easily implemented in-line, lowering costs and not interrupting process flows or outputs.