Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Wood has always occupied a special place in the construction of Canadian buildings. Forest resources, when properly managed, has a zero carbon footprint. The latest initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) suggest increasing the use of wood, the latter being the only renewable building material and the one showing the lowest environmental impact. A more extensive use of appearance wood products is as an opportunity to increase the wood load in buildings and, consequently, to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The main objective of the proposed initiative is to position Canada as a world leader in densification and finishing of the interior wood products. To do so, the initiative will focus on the development of innovative interior wood products incorporating concepts of densification and advanced finishing. The initiative is on the border between chemistry and wood science. It incorporates industrial and mechanical engineering. The proposed research program is divided into three areas of research: DENSIFY, DECORATE and PROTECT. While the first axis focuses on wood densification, the other two axes linger on surface coatings. To ensure the adequacy of the results with industry needs, the initiative will use a value chain approach as partners from raw materials to end applications will be represented. The topics to be addressed in this initiative are: chemical densification of polymer systems and processes (DENSIFY), chemical coloring and strategies to improve finished wood surfaces (DECORATE), mechanical performance of coatings and fire performance (PROTECT).