PFI-BIC: Thermal Modification Research for Engineered Wood Materials

这一创新伙伴关系项目的重点是热改性技术，以提高工程木材产品的实用性，以提高尺寸稳定性和抗生物降解和耐候性。使用寿命也将延长，同时减少对环境的影响。该项目将推动热改性技术向先进、高性能工程木制品的发展。热改性木材目前用于有限的一系列应用，包括实木地板、外部覆层和装饰产品。该项目将推动该平台的发展，使其成为面向市场的新型、大批量和需求旺盛的工程木材产品的基础，这些市场有望在不久的将来快速增长，届时随着美国住宅和商业建筑的反弹，对工程木材产品的需求将会增加。研究的完成和验证还将促进林产行业内各利益攸关方之间的互动和信息交流，以增加可持续生产和使用林产产品的机会；这将有助于提高林产行业劳动力和管理人员的知识、技能和能力。该项目的更广泛影响将是创造就业机会、国家出口收入，以及用工程木制品建造更好的家园和建筑。该项目将促进对热改性平台的科学理解，并将其推向在恶劣环境条件下表现出色的新型、超高性能热改性工程木材产品的潜在应用。最终，这些产品将通过提高美国的经济竞争力、增加就业机会(其中许多位于需求特别大的农村和人口较少的地区)、增加制造商的收入，并加快新产品的出口，最终支持关键的美国林产品行业。项目开始时的合作伙伴是：明尼苏达大学德卢斯自然资源研究所(明尼苏达州德卢斯)；小企业：Aspen Research Corporation(明尼苏达州枫树林市)；C.S.Industries LLC(苏瓦尼，佐治亚州)；Matt W.Nelson&Amp；Associates，Inc.(伊根，明尼苏达州)；Wi商业创新公司(斯普纳，威斯康星州)；和大型企业：路易斯安那州-太平洋公司(路易斯安那州纳什维尔)；其他合作伙伴：公共：艾特金县经济发展和林业(艾特金，明尼苏达州)；梅诺明民族学院(凯舍纳，威斯康星州)；明尼苏达州自然资源部(圣保罗，明尼苏达州)；美国农业部林产品实验室(麦迪逊，威斯康星州)；威斯康星州农业部；贸易和消费者保护部(麦迪逊，威斯康星州)；以及威斯康星州自然资源部(麦迪逊，威斯康星州)；非营利性组织：APA--工程木材协会(塔科马，华盛顿州)；全国住宅建筑商协会研究中心(马里兰州上万宝路)；私营营利性公司：Arclin Limited(安大略省密西索加)；以及Stora Enso Wood Products Oy Ltd.(芬兰赫尔辛基)。

This Partnerships for Innovation project focuses on thermal-modification technology to enhance the utility of engineered wood products in order to improve dimensional stability and resistance to biodegradation and weathering. Service life will also be extended, while at the same time reducing environmental impacts. This project will advance thermal-modification technology toward the development of advanced, high-performing engineered wood products. Thermally-modified wood is currently used in a limited set of applications, including solid wood flooring, external cladding, and decking products. This project will advance the platform so that it can be the basis of new, high-volume, and in-demand engineered wood products for markets that are poised to grow quickly in the near future when the demand for engineered wood products increases with the rebound in U.S. residential and commercial construction. The completion and validation of research will also facilitate interactions and information exchange between stakeholders within the forest products industry to enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production and use; and it will contribut to improvement in the knowledge, skills, and capacity of the forest products industry workforce and management. The broader impacts of this project will be job creation, national export earnings, and better homes and buildings from engineered wood products. This project will advance the scientific understanding of the thermal-modification platform and propel it toward potential applications for new, ultra-high-performing thermally-modified engineered wood products that excel in severe environmental conditions. Ultimately, such products will bolster the critical U.S. forest products industry by increasing U.S. economic competitiveness, increasing the number of jobs (many of them in rural and lesser-populated areas where the need is particularly great), increasing revenues for manufacturers, and accelerating the export of new products.Partners at the inception of the project are the Knowledge-Enhancement Partners: University of Minnesota Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute (Duluth, MN); Small businesses: Aspen Research Corporation (Maple Grove, MN); C.S. Industries LLC (Suwanee, GA); Marshall W. Nelson & Associates, Inc. (Eagan, MN); WI Business Innovation Corporation (Spooner, WI); and Large business: Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (Nashville, TN); Other Partners: Public: Aitkin County Economic Development and Forestry (Aitkin, MN); College of Menominee Nation (Keshena, WI); MN Department of Natural Resources (St. Paul, MN); USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory (Madison, WI); WI Department of Agriculture; Trade and Consumer Protection (Madison, WI); and WI Department of Natural Resources (Madison, WI); Private Non-Profit: APA-The Engineered Wood Association (Tacoma, WA); National Association of Home Builders Research Center (Upper Marlboro, MD); Private For-Profit: Arclin Limited (Mississauga, Ontario, CA); and Stora Enso Wood Products Oy Ltd.(Helsinki, Finland).