Wood is a hot commodity. In the U.S. alone, we consume 10 to 15 billion cubic feet of wood and paper products every year. Wood is readily available, easy to build with, and attractive.
However, as the cost of wood increases and as we look at reducing our impact to the Earth, many builders are looking for alternatives. From the composted wood designed in the 80s to newer options coming down the pipeline, here are some possible wood alternatives.
Traditional Composite Wood
Fake wood, also called ‘engineered wood”, is typically made of wood, plastics, or straw mixed with a binder. The most common composite wood is wood fibers encased in plastic.
This engineered wood gained popularity, especially as decking, because it doesn’t need staining or sanding. This decreased the amount of maintenance required to keep the decking safe and tidy. Real wood requires a lot of replacing, fixing, staining, and sanding to keep it clean.
Stronger Fake Wood That Doesn’t Burn
The composite wood designed in the 80s came with some tradeoffs. Sure, it doesn’t have nearly as much maintenance as real wood, and it saves trees from being cut down. But it is also weaker and more likely to catch fire than real wood.
In recent years, researchers in China have developed a new alternative to composite wood. What makes this new engineered wood different is it’s much stronger than traditional composite wood.
Wood is so strong thanks to lignin, a natural polymer, that binds the cellulose of the wood together. To achieve similar strengths the researchers have included resol, which is a synthetic polymer replacement for lignin. When dry, the composite mimics natural wood at the cellular level.
As an added benefit, resol is a fire retardant. This composite wood doesn’t burn, even when the researchers exposed it to an open flame.
Wood Alternative Made from Kombucha
If you haven’t heard of or tasted kombucha, it’s a fermented tea drink. Often made at home, kombucha is made using a slab of bacteria and yeast – called a scoby. Scobys also contain cellulose. The same cellulose is a large component of wood.
The developer of this new synthetic wood alternative, Gabe Tavas, told Archdaily, “Through independent research, I realized that bacterial cellulose is highly similar to the cellulose that comprises about 50% of tree-based wood…The result is a dense, dark-colored material that resembles many high-value woods driving deforestation in tropical areas like the Amazon Rainforest.”
The cellulose from the scoby is mixed with agar, which acts as a binder, before being poured into a mold. After the mixture has solidified, it is dehydrated and pressed flat. This flattened sheet can be cut and sanded like wood, and it is completely biodegradable.
Currently, the wood alternative, which Gabe calls Pyrus, is being used for small projects, like jewelry and guitar picks. However, the company founded by Gabe, Symmetry Wood, is hoping to expand the product into veneers and non-load bearing structures. They are running tests to understand the full potential, as well as developing 3D printing applications for the material.
