New Timber Materials
Resource-efficient solid wood alternatives
March 2013
Detail (Munich)
Although Germany is one of the most densely wooded areas in Europe it is reckoned that in the future there will be a bottleneck with regard to the procurement of timber. Manufacturers are responding by developing new board materials, which are also said to have a lower environmental impact.
One example is the natural fiberboard EcoSystem, which was developed at Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) in cooperation with the furniture producer System 180. It was made using renewable fiber materials from agricultural waste, which unlike the customary timber materials is not bound using urea formaldehyde or PUR resins but kept in shape using a bioplastic. The honeycomb-like support structure also lowers the amount of material needed and reduces the weight.
The full article about new timber materials is a part of GRID number 3.
image: EcoSystem fiberboard (source: UdK Berlin)
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