PORT ANGELES – The Composite Recycling Technology Center in Port Angeles is working with Washington State University researchers to develop a hybrid building material that combines thermal-treated wood and carbon fiber.
The end-products are construction-grade cross-laminated beams, and even wall-like panels, that can cut building construction times by half or better.
Cross-laminated lumber is not a new technology, but introducing carbon fiber for increased strength puts this project on the cutting edge of the industry, according to CRTC’s Vice President of Innovation, Geoffrey Wood.
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As if the prospect of creating new jobs at CRTC for this project wasn’t enough, there’s another necessary aspect to this technology that could be even more lucrative to our region.
Washington State University Civil Engineer Don Bender explains.
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Thermally modified lumber is being produced in a limited way in other parts of the country, but the Port of Port Angeles has given CRTC a $50,000 grant to study whether a facility can be built here in Clallam County using western hemlock, a small-diameter tree that is usually thinned from forests to improve forest health and to reduce wildfire risk. Using the timber to produce lumber, instead of allowing it to burn, would reduce carbon emissions.
A facility like that has the potential to create and support hundreds of jobs, something that the Port’s Chris Hartman says is what they’re all about.
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A demonstration panel for the first phase of the project will be on display from March 19-21 at the 2019 International Mass Timber Conference in Portland, Oregon.
(Pictured: Cross-laminated wood architecture on WSU campus.)