Sustainable Wood-Waste-Based Thermal Insulation Foam for Building Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Wood is one of the most abundant biomaterials on Earth, which has been used for centuries in construction applications including furniture, roofing, flooring, and cabinetry. However, wood chips—which are a low-quality and plentiful waste byproduct of lumber milling, woodworking, and shipping operations—have low economic value and complicated disposal methods. In this paper, we propose a strategy for wood chip reuse through the fabrication of bio-based building insulation foam. Through a high-temperature chemical treatment delignification process, we introduced additional small pores within the wood chips, effectively lowering their thermal conductivity, and used them in combination with a binding agent to produce a porous insulation foam. The porous insulation foam achieved a low thermal conductivity of 0.038 W/(m·K) and a high compressive strength of 1.1 MPa (70% strain). These characteristics demonstrate that wood waste can be repurposed into an effective building material, addressing challenges in both waste management and sustainable construction.

Investigating the Mechanical, Thermal, and Crystalline Properties of Raw and Potassium Hydroxide Treated Butea Parviflora Fibers for Green Polymer Composites

“…Thermal conductivity plots of BP fibers are shown in Figure 6. K values of BP fibers are much lower than wood-based thermal insulation foam (k = 0.038 Wm −1 k −1 ) [68]. The activity was performed at two Lee's disc setups at room temperature, with the fibers woven tightly without void spaces.…”

Ensuring the Energy Efficiency of Buildings through the Simulation of Structural, Organizational, and Technological Solutions for Facade Insulation

“…In the work in [11], insulation materials that use recycled rubber in their composition were studied, along with others for comparison: heat-pressed rubber, rubber cork composites, aerogel rubber composite, silica aerogel, and extruded polystyrene. A strategy for wood chip reuse through the fabrication of bio-based building insulation foam was proposed [12]. The results of the research [13] show that it is possible to produce glass foams with thermal and acoustic insulation properties from a mixture consisting of 96.5% glass waste, 1% textile waste, and 2.5% manganese dioxide, processed at temperatures between 800 and 900 • C for a time between 30 and 90 min.…”

“…These issues require immediate resolution through enormous social significance. When analyzing the operational properties of buildings, attention should be paid not to energy saving but rather to their energy efficiency [12,19,20].…”

Preparation and Characterization of a Novel Lightweight Bio-Degradable Lignocellulosic Porous Molding Material

“…Another environmentally friendly building insulation material using delignified waste poplar wood chips in combination with carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt was proposed in a two-step process. The wood-waste-based foam suppressed thermal transport while possessing high mechanical performance [10]. These new functional materials are based on natural wood through the removal of lignin, while the framework of the wood structure remains intact.…”