UNBC Wood Concrete Marketing Team

www.unbc.ca/woodconcrete

Mountain Pine Beetle Wood Concrete

Wood Cement Composites

Mineral Bonded Wood Materials (definition):

“the utilization of surplus wood wastes: shavings, wool, or sawdust using inorganic binders: gypsum, magnesite, or Portland cement”

One of the first patents, in 1910, described as:

“a method to produce fire safe, lightweight, porous material”

History

• 1900 - The first mineral bonded board was produced by an Austrian carpenter using wood shavings and gypsum.

• 1920 - The first Wood Wool Cement Board (WWCB) is produced in Austria. Several others in Europe followed.

• 1930 - Wooden lath reinforced WWCB roofing boards produced in Holland, along with the first Cement Bonded Wood Chips (Durisol) boards.

• 1950 - Velox boards produced in Austria from course wood particles and cement.

• 1970 - The first Cement Bonded Particle Board (CBPB), called Duripanel, was produced in Switzerland.

• 2000 - Eltomation developed a fully automatic plant for Wood Strand Cement Board with approx. 1100 kg/m³, called EltoBoard

Technological Process

Cement

Water

Wood Mixer

Mat distribution

on form boardPressing

Curing room/yard

Trimming andfinishing

Material Attributes

European Products

Brazilian Products

Philippine Products

American Products

MPB Wood Concrete Compatibility

POOR

GOOD

MPB-killed wood-cementcompatibility

Ext

ract

ives

Dec

ay

MPB Wood Concrete Compatibility

010

2030

4050

6070

8090

100110

120

Soundwood

TSD-1 TSD-2 TSD-3 TSD-4 Blue-stainedsapwood

Inde

x va

lues

CA

CI

CX

Research Questions

• Wood-cement compatibility– Lodgepole pine is the most compatible wood species

in North America (paradigm/imitation)– What about beetle-killed lodgepole pine compatibility

with Portland cement? (research question/innovation)

• Interior walls– Gypsum board isn’t the best building material on the

market (paradigm/imitation)– What about replacing it with a wood-cement panel?

(research question/innovation)

MPB Wood Concrete Products

• Various applications of the material are in use and/or under development

• Versatility of wood concrete leads to many possible applications

Planters

Benches

Countertops – Ramada Hotel PG

Countertops –Union of BC Municipalities HQ (Victoria)

Interior Walls

Moulded Products

Structural Applications / Walls

Marketing Research

• Phase I: Focus Groups– 76 participants discussed wood concrete

– Most participants responded very positively to product. Industrial/professional consumers wanted to know more about technical specs.

– Greenness: It has green properties such as employing an otherwise unusable component. However, there is skepticism because of the energy/emissions used to produce concrete.

– Potential applications: flooring or patio tiles, garden blocks, countertops, and furniture

– Pricing: People might consider this product if it were 10% higher or lower in cost than what it is replacing

Marketing Research

• Phase II: Conjoint Analysis– 151 participants rated product bundles on a 100

point scale for three products• Countertops• Garden blocks• Floor tiles

– General preference toward attributes:• Location of production was rated as the

most important attribute.

Phase II: Conjoint Analysis

• General preference toward attributes

• Relative Importance of Attributes (Countertops)

 

Phase II: Conjoint Analysis

• Relative Importance of Attributes (Floor tiles)

 

Phase II: Conjoint Analysis

• Relative Importance of Attributes (Garden Blocks)

 

Phase II: Conjoint Analysis