PFI-BIC: Thermal Modification Research for Engineered Wood Materials

该创新伙伴关系项目侧重于热改性技术，以提高工程木制品的实用性，以提高尺寸稳定性和抗生物降解和风化性。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。热改性木材目前在有限的应用中使用，包括实木地板，外部包层和装饰产品。随着美国住宅和商业建筑的反弹，对工程木制品的需求增加，该项目将推动该平台的发展，使其成为市场上新的、大批量的、有需求的工程木制品的基础。研究的完成和验证还将促进林产品工业内利益攸关方之间的互动和信息交流，以增加持续生产和使用林产品的机会；它还将有助于提高林产品工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，增加国家出口收入，改善工程木制品的住房和建筑质量。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优异的新型、超高性能热改性工程木制品的潜在应用。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（其中许多是在农村和人口较少的地区，这些地区的需求特别大），增加制造商的收入，加速新产品的出口，来支持美国关键的林产品工业。项目启动时的合作伙伴是知识增强合作伙伴：明尼苏达大学德卢斯自然资源研究所（明尼苏达州德卢斯）；小型企业：Aspen Research Corporation (Maple Grove， MN)；C.S. Industries LLC (Suwanee， GA)；Marshall W. Nelson & Associates, Inc (Eagan， MN)；WI商业创新公司（斯普纳，WI）；大型企业：路易斯安那-太平洋公司（田纳西州纳什维尔）；其他合作伙伴：公共部门：艾特金县经济发展和林业（明尼苏达州艾特金）；梅诺米尼国家学院（凯什纳，WI）；明尼苏达州自然资源部（圣保罗，明尼苏达州）；美国农业部林业局林产品实验室（威斯康星州麦迪逊）；农业部；贸易和消费者保护（威斯康星州麦迪逊）；和WI自然资源部（麦迪逊，WI）；私人非营利组织：apa -工程木材协会（塔科马，WA）；全国住宅建筑商协会研究中心（Upper Marlboro， MD）；私人营利：arclinlimited (Mississauga, Ontario， CA)；斯道拉恩索木制品有限公司（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).