This is: Circular Wood for the Neighborhood
With an increased awareness and need to change from a linear to a circular economy, in which waste no longer exists but is reused for new applications, the building sector is increasingly developing solutions for the circular reuse of materials. Circular endeavors involving wood have been initiated by different stakeholders: housing corporations, the construction industry, cities and research institutes.
Wood is a challenging waste stream, because it comes in fractions that greatly vary in form and quality, often ‘contaminated’ with metals (nails, hinges, etc) and finishing products (varnish, paint, laminates, etc). Digital design and robotic production processes (applied for 3D scanning, sorting, removal of non-useable parts, storage, processing, finishing, assembly or other) could offer new opportunities for reuse, which would not be available otherwise. This notion formed the starting point for the Circular Wood for the Neighborhood project.
The research was carried out along the following four questions.
1. What different volumes of wood waste streams can be identified within the housing corporation assets, and how are they currently processed?
Research method: A Material Flow Analysis of a selection of renovation projects from the participating housing corporations was carried out together with project partner Metabolic. Students participated with field surveys from ongoing renovations in Amsterdam and Almere.
2. From these fractions, what solutions for circular reuse can be conceived, by using digital production technologies?
Research method: A range of production processes to reuse waste wood were researched: metal detection and removal, sawing, milling, material packing to create larger wood volumes. To assemble wooden elements to one another, different connection systems were researched (dry fit joints, dowels, etc). To carry on this work and explore the potential of robotic production, wood from ongoing renovation projects was harvested and made available for the project.
Dedicated student internships and graduate projects on these developments were carried out by AUAS (interns and graduates) and HMC (Hout- en Meubileringscollege Amsterdam (MBO) / interns).
3. Can concrete applications from reclaimed wood, conceived for specific housing corporation projects, demonstrate the potential of digital production to transform cities into more circular ecosystems?
Research method: Three case studies were carried out (involving design and prototyping):
Case study 1: ‘Once my door, now my coffeetable’.
Case study 2: ‘Once their windows, now our playground’
Case study 3: ‘Once burned wood, now shared value’
4. What could be the impact of using reclaimed wood, for specific types of wood and for specific applications? How can this impact be measured?
Research method: A series of Key Performance Indicators was developed specifically for the project. KPI’s were collected in a series of two workshops with the partners, leading to a selection of the eight most relevant KPI’s. To calculate the KPI’s, an excel-based tool was developed and graphically presented for an easy understanding. This KPI-framework was then used to evaluate the environmental, economic and social impact of the three case studies.
Main conclusive question in the project was “Which strategies can housing corporations apply to reuse wood waste from their own buildings, in order to create beneficial circular applications? And what can city authorities do to encourage and help increase wood reuse, in their transition towards a fully circular economy?”
To answer these questions, individual interviews were held with all project partners. The findings from these interviews were synthesized into ten critical recommendations for housing corporations.