Clemson University launched its Wood Utilization and Design Institute to test and market sustainable, wood-based materials for use in commercial construction, a market dominated by steel and concrete. The program will use the university’s assets in forestry, architecture, construction science and engineering.
A university statement said the institute hopes to forge new markets for South Carolina’s $17 billion forest products industry, form corporate partnerships and prepare students for jobs in designing and marketing innovations in wood-based construction technology.
The institute’s director, Patricia Layton — a forestry professor and former director of the university’s School of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences — said “South Carolina has the timber, design and manufacturing muscle to produce sustainable wood-based solutions that challenge conventional approaches to commercial building, and Clemson has the resources to help make it happen.”
One engineered wood product, cross laminated timber, is composed of wood boards laminated perpendicularly to each other in three- to nine-layer panels. The panels are manufactured and machined, then brought to construction sites for assembly. Layton said those “panels are as strong and stable as concrete, made from a sustainable and renewable resource, and extremely cost effective, and we want to see them being manufactured here in South Carolina.”
Cross laminated timber, developed in Switzerland, is designed for increased dimensional stability and strength in framing systems. It is already being used in Europe and Canada but is not widely used in the United States due to building codes and lack of marketplace familiarity, the statement said.
From GSA Business: https://www.gsabusiness.com/news/52344-founders-of-clemson-program-promote-building-with-wood?rss=0