IRG Documents Database and Compendium


Search and Download IRG Documents:



Between and , sort by


Displaying your search results

Your search resulted in 253 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


Performance of bio-based building materials – viewpoints from the first year of COST Action FP1303
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20572
Maintaining and expanding the market potential for bio-based building products in indoor and outdoor construction uses remains a key activity for industries in the forestry and biotechnological sector, particularly in Europe. Whilst there are ongoing activities within IRG for collecting and populating a database on performance on wood, the performance data for many other (i.e. non-wood) "environme...
D Jones


Service Life Forecasting and Planning – Why, and Concepts to do it
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20625
The importance of the building and construction sector in society cannot be overestimated. It is globally the major industry sector, a main contributor to gross domestic products, a dominant employer, and the main consumer of material resources and energy. The environmental impact of constructing, running and demolishing the built environment is huge. The products of construction are normally long...
C Sjöström


Performance based specification of wood – Introducing project CLICKdesign
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20661
This paper introduces the new ForestValue research project CLICKdesign – delivering fingertip knowledge to enable service life performance specification of wood. This European consortium is working on the primary innovation to move from the complex, fragmented and general to the easy-to-use, consolidated and specific by provision of an accessible digital tool for specifiers. Competing materials ...
E Suttie, C Brischke, E Frühwald Hansson, S Fortino, J Sandak, M Kutnik, G Alfredsen, C Lucas, R Stirling


Service life planning of wooden structures: Mathematical prediction models versus professional experience
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20663
During the last 15 years, enormous efforts have been made in developing models for predicting the service life of wooden structures and components. Currently, a framework of how exposure, dimension, design details and the material-intrinsic and the ability to take up and release water can be linked to model the moisture risk in wood products is in principle available. The aim of this study was to...
C Brischke, J Niklewski, M Humar, G Alfredsen


Carbon footprint of a cross laminated timber building – Torvbraten school case study
2021 - IRG/WP 21-50366
Torvbråten school is a public school in Asker, Norway, that has reached many sustainability goals. The school was the second in Norway to have Nordic Swan Ecolabel and has a 60 % reduction in carbon footprint compared to the reference benchmark. The building is made of cross laminated timber (CLT) and extensive wood use in general. From a wood protection viewpoint, will this sustainability sustai...
L G F Tellnes, J K Naess, M R Hanssen, P-O Flate


Simulations of microclimates for wood-decaying fungi in the built environment using environmental analysis
2023 - IRG/WP 23-20703
Simulations of fungal decay risk were run on two similar building geometries exposed to typical annual climate conditions of two different geographical locations, Brunswick (Germany) and Cairns (Australia). The simulations were conducted to capture the effect of wind-driven rain and solar irradiation exposure over nodes of the common building geometry. The moisture content and temperature variatio...
P B van Niekerk, J Niklewski, S H Hosseini, B N Marais, I Frimannslund, T Kringlebotn Thiis, C Brischke


Utilising novel service life prediction methods for robust and precise Life-Cycle-Costing (LCC)
2023 - IRG/WP 23-50384
Life-Cycle-Costing (LCC) is one of the basic indicators for the assessment of sustainability and cost effectiveness in construction applications. Project WoodLCC was thus conceived to enable LCC through input from models for detailed service life planning of wooden components and buildings. The project is a continuation of the service life planning research conducted in Europe over the last three ...
P B van Niekerk, G Alfredsen, T Kalamees, R Modaresi, A Sandak, J Niklewski, C Brischke


How to Document the Performance of Super-Critical Treated Wood in above Ground Situations?
2005 - IRG/WP 05-20316
The paper presents practical experiences from the preparation of a new preservative treated wood product for introduction to the market. The product in question is Superwood™, which is treated with organic biocides using CO2 in a supercritical state as a solvent. The question is how to evaluate the performance of a new product such as Superwood™ in order to get an acceptance on the market a...
N Morsing, A H H Wong, F Imsgard, O Henriksen


Inspection results of preservative treated stakes, maximum 33 years in field
1992 - IRG/WP 92-3690
Since in 1958, we have undertaken field experiments in Japan. For these field experiments, we used sapwoods of Japanese cedar called Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) because of majority of plantation forest soft wood species in Japan. For some preservatives, we added sapwood of Japanese beech called Buna (Fagus crenata), a main Japanese hard wood species. Dimensions of these specimens were 30 x 30 x 60...
K Suzuki, K Yamamoto, M Inoue, S Matsuoka


Extending the useful life of creosoted electricity distribution poles in service
1993 - IRG/WP 93-50001-16
Creosoted transmission poles have provided good service over many decades in a whole range of environments. The use of save biocides for secondary treatments has the potential to extend the life of such poles. These techniques, together with a full understanding of the modes of failure, make it possible to establish new strategies to further improve the environmental benefits of treated wooden pol...
D J Dickinson, B Calver


Effect of a penta emulsion on the service life of Douglas fir, heartwood posts
1978 - IRG/WP 3112
C S Walters


Scientific development for prolonging the service life of timbers by impregnating with creosote or organic solvent type preservatives in which additive has been incorporated
1977 - IRG/WP 382
Chemically impregnated wood has played a prominent part in the Telephone and Electricity Distribution Industry during the past century and there is no doubt that it will play an equally prominent part in the future. The reasons why wood poles and wooden, structures predominate, are that when adequately chemically impregnated with a recognised timber preservative to ensure the expected service life...
P R B D De Bruin


Reliability-based service life prediction methodology for assessment of water protection efficiency for coatings on wood
2003 - IRG/WP 03-20268
Assessment of water protection efficiency according to EN 927-5 has been shown to give significant differences in water absorption values for different types of coatings on wood. It is shown that the combination of EN 927-5 and an artificial weathering procedure gives more information regarding expected durability and long-term performance than a single measurement of water absorption on fresh, un...
J Ekstedt


An approach to testing the preventive effectiveness of preservative treatments for wooden joinery
1981 - IRG/WP 2156
The ecological sequence established in field trial samples exposed out of ground contact has shown the need for outdoor exposure in testing potential joinery preservative pretreatments. A system of exposure of L-joint units is proposed. Data obtained by examining samples destructively show promise as the basis for predicting service life after relatively short exposure periods (within 2 years)....
J K Carey, A F Bravery, J G Savory


The performance of glue laminated railway ties after 40 years of service in the main line track
1989 - IRG/WP 2325
Two series of horizontally glue laminated ties made of a softwood body and topped with a hardwood lamination were creosoted and installed in 1947 in a tangent and a curved main line track. The tests are now 40 years old and the excellent condition of the ties of these two series suggest that a service life of 50-60 years can be expected....
J P Hösli, E E Doyle, C P Bird, T Lee


Estimation of service life of durable timber species by accelerated decay test and fungal cellar test
2002 - IRG/WP 02-20249
Many kinds of durable wood species for outdoor uses has been imported from all over the world to Japan. However information on the natural durability of these species is not sufficient to estimate the service life of them in the climate of Japan. Highly durable species such as Jarrh, Teak, Ipe, Ekki, Selangan batu, Red wood, Western red cedar showed no significant percent mass losses by accelerate...
K Yamamoto, I Momohara


Thirty-four year test of on-site preservative treatments to control decay in wood above ground
1993 - IRG/WP 93-30015
This research was initiated in 1958 to investigate efficacy of various preservatives and treating methods for new lumber going into exterior structures of buildings. Post-rail units (2x4 inches) constructed of Southern Pine sapwood, Douglas-fir heartwood, and mill run western hemlock were dip- or brush-treated before or after assembly. Units were trested with pentachlorophenol in various petroleum...
T L Highley, T C Scheffer


The effect of service life and preservative treatment on the hardness of wooden poles
1989 - IRG/WP 3537
The surface hardness of utility poles is an important parameter which effects the acceptability of the pole as being safe to climb during line maintenance. The current investigation was designed to evaluate how the surface hardness of preservative treated utility poles is effected by the type of preservative, and the age of the poles. Chromated-copper-arsenate (CCA) treated red pine and jack pine ...
E B Jonsson, E M A Nilsson, J N R Ruddick


Test Methods – Performance Based Requirements
2004 - IRG/WP 04-20297
In this paper is briefly described the present approach to service life prediction as an essential part of the architectural engineering process. The system of testing the durability of wood is described more in detail including laboratory tests as well as field trials. It is concluded that the system has a lot of weaknesses which makes it less well suited for practical building applications. A le...
M-L Edlund, F Englund, J Jermer, T Nilsson, M Westin, K Ödeen


HCB - a new preservative combination for wood pole maintenance
1996 - IRG/WP 96-30122
New combination of heavy creosoted boron (HCB) applied on hardwood and softwood logs at different moisture content revealed successful diffusion of boron in all sapwoods within 7 days and in all sapwoods plus hardwoods within 15 days. The new cost effective paste sterilizes wood through diffusion and suitable for pole maintenance at groundline and above groundline e.g. cut ends, drilled holes, woo...
A K Lahiry


Preservative performance of copper naphthenate (SANPRESER-OGR) in brush treatment of timber
1991 - IRG/WP 3663
Preservative efficacy of copper naphthenate (SANPRESER-OGR) was evaluated in the laboartory and field trials when timber was treated by brushing. Results of field trial indicated that service life of the brush-treated timber could be approximately 10 years or longer under ground contact conditions, although life span was slightly varied with timber species and test sites. After four years&apos...
Y Sugai, K Hamada, M Kitada, K Tomoi


An engineering model for the decay of timber in ground contact
2003 - IRG/WP 03-20260
To predict the residual strength of an engineered structure, it is first necessary to predict the effect of decay. A model was developed in which the effective area of structural decay in large section timbers was defined as that area that could be picked out with a pen-knife. Some limited studies indicated that for practical purposes the remaining wood could be assumed to have its full residual s...
R H Leicester, C-H Wang, M N Nguyen, J D Thornton, G Johnson, D Gardner, G C Foliente, C MacKenzie


A new model for wetting and drying of wood end-grain – with implications for durability and service-life
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20477
New experimental data for wetting and drying of wood end-grain, Sandberg (2009), imply that traditional models for moisture transport are not at all applicable. A new model is developed to consider the phenomenological behaviour of water transport in and out of end-grain, using the pore water pressure and sorption scanning properties. Modelling results are compared to experimental results and the ...
L-O Nilsson, K Sandberg


Serviceability modeling-Predicting and extending the useful service life of FRT-plywood roof sheathing
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20210
One of the most, if not the most, efficient methods of extending our existing forest resource is to prolong the service life of wood currently in-service by using those existing structures to meet our future needs (Hamilton and Winandy 1998). It is currently estimated that over 7 x 109 m3 (3 trillion bd. ft) of wood is currently in service within the United States of America (PATH 1999). Research ...
J E Winandy


Fungus cellar testing as an evaluation method for performance of treated timber in ground contact
2001 - IRG/WP 01-20227
A fungus cellar method for the accelerated evaluation of performance of treated wood in ground contact is described. The test soil comprised of sandy loam, vermiculite and Japanese horticulture soil "Kanumatsuchi" in a ratio of 6:2:2 by volume. The soil was inoculated with the dominant test fungus isolated with selective medium from decayed wood samples. Pairs of treated and untreated wood specime...
Y Nagano


Next Page