Development of new innovative wood-based materials and products

The production and use of building materials account for a significant part of the CO₂ emissions in the building sector. Our idea is to refine forest raw materials or other renewable biomass into new innovative materials and products, primarily for building and furniture applications. We do this by developing new technologies so that we can produce green, safe wood-based and resource-efficient materials.

Wood is an interesting and complex material that is "designed" for degradation in the nature. This means that wood has poor resistance to biological degradation, UV-light, moisture, and fire. At RISE, we work with wood protection through surface treatment, impregnation and modification to increase the material's resistance to these factors.

In addition to various forms of wood protection, we also work with the development of glued wood products and composite materials, such as fibre boards, plywood, OSB boards, cross laminated timber, glulam beams and wood-plastic composites (WPC). We are focusing on gluing of wood, behaviour of glue joints during fire, and bio-based alternatives to today's fossil-based adhesives.

Our expertise includes wood technology, microbiology, degradation mechanisms, surface chemistry, materials science, gluing, and structural characterization.

We work in close collaboration with our customers, both in industrially financed commissions but also in public funded research projects. If you are producers or users of wood-based materials and products and encounter challenges in using wood, contact us and we will help you find a solution.