JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #111 - March 2017 - Special JEC World - o - 93

"I am re-engineering nature"

Cut of a tree trunk

and its lignocellulosic substrate, impregnated
with a biosourced resin. The structure of the
wood plays the role of reinforcement, such
that any crack propagation in the resin will be
blocked by a wood fibre, just as the polymer
matrix acts as a reinforcement by creating
even stronger anatomical bonds between the
fibres. There is no "hierarchy" of one over the
other.
Aesthetic and true answer to new
building standards
The fruit of this innovation is translucent
wood. The new material has six major comparative advantages. It is:

cies can be transformed into translucent
wood, which is compatible with diversified, sustainable sylvicultural practices
that develop local forest resources.
It also has a small carbon footprint that is
only half that of concrete, and 130 times
smaller than steel. It has a much longer life
than native wood, without requiring any
treatment. The material is in line with current and future international environmental
directives for the building and construction
sector: wood is the only construction material that sequesters CO2 instead of emitting
it (one metric ton of CO2 sequestered per
cubic metre of wood).
Woodoo wood opens up potential applications in a number of sectors, such as the luxury, furniture, design, automotive (interior
fittings), boating, consumer, and construction industries. The long-term environmental challenge focuses on the construction
sector, where the material can be used in the
low-carbon buildings of tomorrow. It will be
produced initially in the form of finishing
(roofs, façades, floor elements). Once the required technical approval has been obtained,
the material will gradually become available
for structural work, making it possible to
push the state of the art in construction towards very high wood-composite buildings.
Currently, the tallest building with a wood
structure is located in Vancouver (Canada)
and is 17 stories high.
More information:
http://woodoo.fr
Contact:
contact@woodoo.fr

Wooden
skyscrapers

No111 March 2017

/ jec composites magazine

Feature Construction

- rot-proof and dimensionally stable; the
reconstructed wood matrix is impregnated with a monomer that seals the material from the air and moisture, so the wood
will not rot, shrink, or swell. It is resistant
to fungal decay and no longer vulnerable
to its hygrothermal environment, and all
without requiring a coat of varnish or regu-

lar treatment with a protective coating;
- more fire resistant; the polymerized monomer matrix forms a densified material
devoid of oxygen in its structure. Since its
mass density has increased, it will take much
longer to burn than traditional wood;
- strong and lightweight; the material's anatomical homogeneity makes it exceptionally
strong for a biosourced material, up to 300%
more so than the original wood, depending
on the species;
- translucent, a novel aesthetic characteristic
that could be a strong selling point for the
innovation vis-à-vis consumers. As a function of the wood species and how it is cut,
the material can be made available in a vast
range of visual variations;
- eco-designed from the start; Woodoo is
100% recyclable (subject to the type of impregnated compounds used), and based on
a production process that utilizes all parts of
the wood. The process can be applied to recovered wood, so it can be part of a circular
economy initiative. All types of wood spe-

http://www.woodoo.fr

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #111 - March 2017 - Special JEC World - o