In today’s world, wood remains the most versatile, practical and sustainable building material. In contemporary countries, wood is a well-managed renewable resource that has a remarkably small carbon footprint compared to those of steel, aluminium, composites, and concrete. These alternative materials have continued to emerge as viable building materials given the durability issues of untreated wood against attack from insects and fungi. As these materials continue to take market share away from wood, the need to cost-effectively increase the durability of wood remains an always present target within the forest products industry. The use of chemical treatments to impart fungal and insect resistance into wood has been utilized for over a century. Today, many of these preservatives are delivered into the wood using the same decades-old methods and chemicals, including the utilization of emission-prohibitive organic solvent based delivery systems. The development of solvent-free, Water Based Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment Systems (known commercially as TRU-CORE® Technology) for use in wood preservation has allowed significant modernization of the application and preservation process. The buffered amine oxides allow for a chemically based infusion process that is capable of delivering key wood protectants completely throughout the wood. This waterbased system imparts a minimal amount of added moisture into the wood during the process, so there is no need to dry after treatment. A short activation period is utilized to achieve full penetration. For larger wood profiles, such as decking members and railroad crossties, the use of pressure/vacuum impregnation accelerates the penetration. The Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment System is in commercial use in the United States, New Zealand and Australia; where numerous programs have been developed for residential and industrial wood products. To date, over 2,000,000 m3 (847,552,001 board feet) of wood has been treated utilizing the Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment System. The most modern Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment System has been designed to fully and completely impart azoles/insecticide wood preservatives into Douglas Fir and Eucalypt wood profiles.

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