Every once in a while someone sends me a materials-related question and I get to sit at a local wing joint on a rainy day, my non-typing hand covered in piquant buffalo sauce and stringy, ranch-coated celery fragments, watching multiple football games simultaneously while happily dispensing advice on subjects about which I may or may not have any expertise … and it is glorious. In the interest of sharing knowledge and offering a forum for people with actual experience and/or information concerning the question to contribute what they know (which I hope you’ll do in the comments section) please allow me to present a recent query and answer for your infotainment:

Dear Alli,

We are students of product design and are interested in knowing about the methodology used in bending bamboo or lamboo for shaping.

Can you pls how this is done–is it by air pressure or water pressure or by direct heating?

Saroj
India

Hi Saroj,

Although it’s technically a grass, bamboo acts a lot like wood, in that it performs well in tension and it’s fibrous and fast-growing. And just as with its arboreal cousin, people bend bamboo in order to make furniture, walking canes, or perhaps they bend it for more complicated reasons such as in order to feel capable of imposing their will on the natural world. And from what I can tell, all of these bending operations, whether the object of your deformation is a piece of plywood or a length of bamboo, require the application of heat.

Image courtesy made-in-china.com

While I have seen people steam the bamboo or apply heated, wet rags then bend and clamp it into position once the material has absorbed enough moisture to become pliable, I think it’s also possible to just blast the stuff with a blowtorch. (I found a highly instructive video of a craftsman in Mexico bending bamboo using said tool, upon which I plan to base this advice). I’ll include the video but for those of you on YouTube restriction, here’s how it’s done:

First, the bamboo is rotated rapidly and heated with a blowtorch that the craftsman moves continuously, allowing him to apply heat to the entire length of the bamboo stalk without scorching it. He polishes the stalk with a rag then applies heat a second time, as though to lock in the polish.

Next, one end of the stalk gets sealed off and the hollow tube is filled with sand. I think the sand acts like a flexible internal reinforcing for the bamboo as it bends, preventing it from splitting, checking, or creasing as it bends. The sealed end is placed in a clamp, whereupon more fast-moving blowtorch heat gets applied as the craftsman bends the stalk into position.

After the bamboo has cooled, he is able to unstopper the ends and drain the sand out; and BAM! that craftsman has himself a perfectly curved piece of bamboo.

Lamboo, a material I have written about before, which is basically glu-lam made from bamboo, can also be bent, although I’d imagine that the process depends on the characteristics of the resin involved in the manufacture of the material, as well as how it’s configured etc.

There is also Bendywood, a sort of permanently flexible, slightly dehydrated wood product. I’m not sure if similar techniques could be applied to bamboo but it would be fun to try!

Saroj, I hope that this answers your question or that it at least provides some content for other informed people to disagree with or correct in the comments!

Sincerely,

Alli

WU XING:

I have filed this Q&A Special under WOOD because that is where I always file bamboo. HAH!

I resent the noise of the printer, printer jams, shaking the toner cartridge, the harsh chemicals involved, and the amount of electricity it takes to print on a sheet of paper. I resent those things with the heat of a thousand suns.

But … just when I believed that I had calcified in my negative stance on all forms of printing, I learned that MIT engineers recently revealed a process they’ve developed to produce printed solar cells.  Their flexible cells can be printed on paper or fabric and folded over 1,000 times without losing efficiency, and they’re not energy-intensive to produce!  I was cautiously optimistic: maybe, I thought, printing doesn’t have to be completely evil?

Photos: Patrick Gillooly/MIT

The creation of typical solar cells involves exposing substrates to intense chemicals and high temperatures, which necessitates a whole lotta energy consumption.  MIT’s new fancy solar cells “are formed by placing five layers of material onto  a single sheet of  paper in successive passes. A mask is utilized to form the cell patterns, and  the entire printing process is done in a vacuum chamber” (Singh).  Fabric and paper substrates weigh less than the glass and other heavy backing materials that are typically used, and researchers think that they’re well on the way to developing scalable cells for use in photovoltaic arrays.

So here’s what I’ll say: the day my office printer can power itself by printing out solar cells is the day I will let go of these negative emotions and learn to forgive.

Click  here to see the technology in action (via Inhabitat).

WU XING:

I have filed MIT’s solar cells under water (because of the gentle process) and wood (because they’re flexible and can be printed on paper). And also, privately, under awesome.

Cited:

Singh, Timon. “MIT Unveils Flexible Solar Cells Printed on Paper.” Inhabitat.com 07/11/11. Accessed 07/12/11. URL.

Image courtesy en.wikipedia.org

Understandably, people were pretty much done with the plant, and outside of the occasional burst of color in springtime gardens, the Tulip carried on growing under the radar. That is, until a group of materials scientists out of the Delft University of Technology researching ultra-strong materials decided to take another look at the flower that had so fascinated their forebears.

“We had been working with minerals for so long, trying to find a way to strengthen steel,” says Delft University of Technology researcher Koenraad Van Tonder, “but we hit a dead end. The breakthrough came when I bought a bunch of what I thought were ordinary tulips for my girlfriend to apologize for forgetting our anniversary.  She threw them at me and stomped them with her feet, but we were both surprised to see that they were unharmed.”

Image courtesy www.zastavki.com

Van Tonder brought the tulips to the lab, where the team worked with specialists to analyze the plant.  It turned out that Van Tonder had purchased a tulip called “Tulipa fortis” and known among tulip aficionados for its hardiness.  The team discovered a unique cellular arrangement within the leaves along with two heretofore unknown phytochemicals, which they believe are responsible for the Tulip’s amazing strength.

Image © David Spears

Van Tonder and his team dried the leaves and pulverized them, then added hydrochloric acid to the powder. Placing the acid-powder mixture under tremendous heat and pressure, they were able to effect the formation of polymers.  The tulip plastic they produced proved to be easy to work with. “We found we could extrude the tulip polymer matrix into long chains, which could then be woven into cables,” says Van Tonder, “we are testing the cables now, but the results have been shocking. This is strong stuff.”

Using a single 1/4″ diameter woven tulip cable hooked up to a rig, the team was able to lift a grand piano. They then used two cables tied with a slip knot to tow Van Tonder’s car out of the graduate student parking lot and over to a mechanic. “The battery in my Yugo had died and I couldn’t afford to have it towed,” says Van Tonder, “but since we’ve discovered this amazing new material, I’m thinking of upgrading to a Fiat.”

The researchers are still testing the material, but early results indicate that the plastic is extremely stable, fire-resistant, and it appears not to deform in any way when subjected to changes in temperature. It’s stronger and lighter than steel, and can be molded, rotocast, and extruded into complex forms. When it comes to market, this Tulip-based plastic will revolutionize the construction industry. I think I see more tulip mania on the horizon!

WU XING:

I’ve filed Tulip Plastic under wood.

Cited:

Koenraad Van Tonder. Interview. 03/31/11. Delft University of Technology.

Image courtesy mirror.uncyc.org

In the case of Frankenstein’s monster, manufacturing a human being out of various other people resulted in the production of a highly unfortunate, eight-foot tall murderer. Mary Shelley was a little bit ambigous about the process (with good reason) but it’s clear that however it was accomplished, the manual combination of different human beings does not produce a new person who embodies the best characteristics of each of his constituent parts.  Thankfully, this is not the case for materials.  In fact, combining different materials often results in improved products that leverage the best qualities of their components; the strength of one material compensates for the weakness of another, and vice versa.

Wood appears to be a willing partner in many composite material ventures: last week I wrote about woodwool cement (read more here) and this week I am featuring TimberSIL GlassWood, which is wood that has been infused with glass.  More specifically, the wood is bathed in liquid Sodium Silicate, “comprised of microscopic particles of glass in an aqueous solution” (TimberSIL). Glass is a surprisingly strong material in compression, although it is brittle and shatters easily when subjected to tensile forces.  Wood, on the other hand, is weaker, but it makes up for that deficiency by being flexible. 

Image courtesy Treehugger

Sodium silicate consists of “a mixture of sand and soda ash used since the 1800s in detergents and as an egg preservative. Lumber soaks in it under pressure, then bakes until an insoluble matrix of amorphous glass hardens throughout the wood. It makes the wood highly resistant to rain, bugs, and general wear. It costs $4.50 per 8-foot 2×4.” (Thomas).  The glass layer surrounds and fuses with wood fibers, greatly increasing their strength and allowing nails, screws, and other fasteners to bite in more effectively. 

The glass keeps the wood from warping because it blocks the absorption of moisture, and it also acts as a fire retardant.  It renders the wood less pervious to traditional attackers (rot and decay, termites, fire, etc). The glass barrier is permanent, non-toxic, and non-corrosive, and since GlassWood lasts longer than regular wood, it requires replacement much less often (TimberSIL).  The product accepts stain and can be cut and sanded like conventional wood. 

TimberSIL takes wood to the next level by fusing it with glass.  And in contrast with Frankenstein’s monster, it doesn’t terrorize people all over the countryside with its appearance and subsequent random acts of violence, nor does it moan on and on about how it has been rejected by its creator. 

WU XING:

I have filed GlassWood under wood, for obvious reasons.

Cited:

http://www.timbersilwood.com/

Thomas, Justin. “Popular Science’s Best of What’s New: TimberSIL.” Treehugger.com 11/13/05. Accessed 03/29/11. URL.

D’Aulaire Drawing of Athena

This and all subsequent images courtesy Träullit

Woodwool cement may sound a little odd, but the name perfectly describes the product: it’s wood fiber (in this case, more specifically, Spruce) that looks like tangled wool fibers, and which is bound together with cement.  The manufacturing process is relatively simple: wood slivers are cut from logs, mixed with water and cement, and put in molds to set into shape. Wood fiber gives the product a heat-insulating, heat retaining and sound-absorbing properties. The cement binder provides strength, moisture resistance and fire protection.

According to the product data, woodwool evens out humidity levels in spaces where it’s installed by “absorbing moisture from or emitting moisture to the ambient air. This contributes to a pleasant indoor climate which is good for both comfort and health. The high pH value also discourages mould and the material is not affected by rot” (Träullit).  The woodwool panels also store heat from the ambient air and emit it when the air temperature falls, presumably due to an increase in the thermal mass of the wall systems to which they are applied.  If that is true, installing the panels could lower energy costs and reduce environmental impact. I like the idea that applying an inert material to the walls could affect indoor air quality – I have an utterly miserable dehumidifier in my apartment and it’s a noisy energy hog with only one function.

Woodwool panels contribute to the quality of the indoor environment in so many ways: the open cell material structure reduces reflection of sound, dampening noise and contributing to “restful acoustics in residential buildings, industrial premises and public spaces” (Träullit).  Another aspect of this product that I love is the fact that you can vacuum the panels to clean them, and they don’t emit dust or particulate matter.

FORM US WITH LOVE came up with a hexagonal panel design that “complements the practicality of the material, creating a simple but striking product” (Träullit).  They plan to introduce new shapes and colors every year, and you can order the 2011 collection now.  The 19 x 21cm  hexagons come in a range of earthy colours with nature-inspired names: cloud, moss, leaf, sky and stone.

Träullit Dekor panels are designed to attach to your walls magnetically.  The tiles are supplied with magnets affixed to the back, and adhere to thin metal sheets that are applied to the wall surface.  They can be fixed by hand and rearranged at any time.  They can also be fitted to walls with screws or glue. Check out their website where you can play with a nifty little tool that will let you design your wall!

WU XING:

I have filed woodwool cement board under wood and earth.

Cited:

http://www.traullitdekor.se/

Image by © Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS

In Northern California, the brief periods between earthquakes are made lively by a counterpoint of alternating floods and wildfires. The floods lead to mudslides, and there isn’t much any material on the facade can do to prevent an entire building being carried down the hillside by the hill itself. The wildfires, however, delight in ingniting wood cladding, and it is in the fireproofing arena that a brick facade has the leg up. So what would you choose? A flexible material that resists damage in the event of an earthquake or a rigid material that cracks under shear stress but that stands up to fire?

The answer, of course, is yes – meaning that you’d choose a material that is both flexible AND fireproof. Reider, a family-owned Austrian concrete manufacturing company, is making just such a material at this very moment in its factories, which you have to imagine must be surrounded by edelweiss and roving melodious von Trap children.

Image courtesy Stylepark

FibreC is a fiberglass-reinforced concrete panel that can be used for outside facades as well as indoors. It’s a “thin-walled material with a pleasant feel and natural look” that is resilient and at the same time flexible, rendering it suitable for a wide range of practical applications (Stylepark). FibreC has been available in large panels for quite some time, and now it’s also being manufactured in the shape of thin slats. This new shape means that FibreC is a fireproof alternative to wooden panel cladding! Reider touts it as a sustainable material because it’s made of sand, cement, and glass fibers, and the manufacturing process is reportedly eco-friendly.  FibreC comes in a wide range of colors and a few different finishes:

Image courtesy Stylepark

FibreC was used by Architects Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang, who won a competition to design a temporary, freestanding pavilion that was built in front of the Architectural Association school in London.  The high tensile strength of FibreC allowed the development of a “simple interlocking cross joint which is tightened by slightly bending each element as it is locked into consecutive cross elements. Consultation with the Fibre-C technical department in Austria has suggested that a flex of 15-20mm per metre can be applied without affecting the structural performance of the material. The appearance of small micro cracks on the surface is mitigated by using lighter material colours and a Ferro finish” (Dezeen).

Image Courtesy Loz Pycock

The pavilion was fabricated from curved profiles nested on standard 13mm flat sheets and cut with a water jet.  I think the effect is rather splendid, and it’s certainly not a fire hazard. Thanks to David Conover of StudioConover for sending me info on FibreC!

WU XING:

I filed FibreC under earth (because of its composition) and fire (because it’s fireproof).

Cited:

“Slab Format Thin Concrete.” Stylepark.com. 01/10/10. Accessed 02/07/11. URL.

“C Space Pavilion by Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang.” Dezeen.com 11/04/07. Accessed 02/09/11. URL.

ARCHITERIALS is a year old now, and like most healthy, well-adjusted one-year-olds it needs to be changed constantly, crawls all over my apartment, and makes strange burbling noises.  No, really – it does.  It’s terrifying.

Over the past year I’ve profiled approximately 65 materials and learned about blogging, bacteria, and biscuits, although I must confess that the biscuts were a side project.  A delicious, buttery side project.  Anyhow, to celebrate the birthday of ARCHITERIALS and the fact that the tagline “Investigating architectural materials since 2010” has finally attained temporal legitimacy, I’ve compiled for this, the 10th day of January,  a list of 10 materials from 2010 that are generally awesome.  I’ve also summarized the awesomeness of each material in a brief paragraph, and I’ve tried to frame each one as part of a larger, sort of big-picture trend in materials science that I’m studying.  Should you click on the links and read the detailed posts about each material for more information? Definitely. 

Finally, thank you so much to those who’ve submitted information, followed, liked, and posted photos over the past year, I appreciate it more than you can imagine!  Keep the materials coming and do tell your friends if your friends seem like people who might be interested in ARCHITERIALS.

Ten Awesome Materials from 2010 and Reasons They are Awesome:

1.  Materials that can be deployed in disasters or used to improve living conditions:  Concrete Cloth

Concrete cloth is a concrete-impregnated fabric that is fire-proof, waterproof, moldable, drapeable, durable and generally fantastic.  Applications include: gabion reinforcement, sandbag defenses, ground surfacing/dust suppression, ditch lining, landing surfaces, formwork, spill containment and landfill lining, waterproofing, building cladding, boat ramps, erosion control, roof repair, water and septic tanks.  Concrete cloth solves problems you don’t even know you have, although nothing can repair your terrible relationship with your mother-in-law.   

2.  Sustainable, non-toxic materials:  Reclaimed Wood and Agricultural Fiber Panels

Kirei Board, Kirei Coco Tiles and Kirei Wheatboard made from the non-food portions (stalks and husks) of sorghum, coconut, and wheat plants.  The agricultural fiber that’s not sold by farmers for use in the manufacture of Kirei board takes up space in landfills or gets burned up and pollutes the air – therefore repurposing it cuts down on that sort of thing.  Sustainable building materials make the planet happy, and a happy planet makes for happy people. 

3.  Biodegradable materials:  Arbofoam

As it turns out, lignin can be transformed into a renewable plastic if it’s combined with resins, flax and other natural fibers. The resulting bio-plastic, called Arboform, can be thermoformed, foamed, or molded via injection machines.  It’s durable and super-precise when it’s cast, and it degrades similar to wood into water, humus, and carbon dioxide. It’s very cool stuff indeed and I’d love it if someone would send me information about a project where it’s been used.  Biodegradable materials cut down on landfill and reduce environmental pollution. 

4.  Thermoplastic/thermoelastic/thermoformed/thermo-etcetera materials:  Chemical Velcro

How could you not get excited about an adhesive 10 times stickier than Velcro and the reusable gecko-inspired glues that many research groups have been trying to perfect that comes apart when heated??!  I have been trying without success to get my hands on some of this to build demountable partition walls for my tiny apartment, and I’m not giving up.  Materials that respond to changes in temperature by changing their behavior or attributes will find widespread application in the future. 

5.  Materials that clean and sanitize themselves:  Liquid Glass

Liquid glass a coating that takes advantages of the unique properties of materials at nanoscale.  It is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids.  According to manufacturers, you can spray liquid glass on everything from wood to seeds to your sneakers.  It could someday replace all the toxic cleaning products you currently use to tidy and disinfect, and it reportedly costs about 8 dollars.  Materials that clean and sanitize themselves cut down on the need for toxic chemicals and pollutants. 

6.  Materials that emit light efficiently:   White LED Lights

White LED lights emit more light than a typical 20-watt fluorescent bulb, as well as more light for a given amount of power. With these improvements, the new LEDs can replace traditional fluorescent bulbs for all general lighting applications, and also be used for automobile headlights and LCD backlighting.  Shedding light on any given subject has never been more efficient.  As we transition to alternative forms of energy we are also looking for materials that emit light without using much energy in the first place.

7.  Nanomaterials:  Gold Nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles can be used to further increase the efficiency of LED lights.  Researchers have implanted the particles in the leaves of aquatic plants, causing the leaves to emit red light.  Theoretically, the light produced by the leaves could cause their chloroplasts to conduct photosynthesis, meaning that no additional energy source would be needed to power the process.  In fact, the leaves would actually work overtime, absorbing CO₂ at night.  Nanomaterials allow us to intervene in processes like photosynthesis with a previously unheard-of degree of delicacy.

8.  Materials that augment already useful material properties:  Bendywood 

Bendywood is wood that has been pre-compressed so that it can be easily bent by hand.  The tension that forms on the outside of a bend merely returns the plant cells to their former shape, and the wood doesn’t break.  The material is delightfully flexible and pliable.  Bendywood was developed for indoor uses such as furniture, handrails, or curved mouldings, and it shows enormous promise.  Materials like Bendywood amplify the appealing properties of familiar materials so that it’s even easier to use them to our benefit.

9.  Bio-based materials:  Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)

At the intersection of biology and solar tech, there are jellyfish that produce green fluorescent protein (GFP).  Dripping GFP onto a silicon dioxide substrate between two electrodes causes it to work itself into strands, creating a circuit that absorbs photons and emits electrons in the presence of ultraviolet light.  The electron current (aka electricity) can then be used to power your hairdryer.  I’m completely fascinated by materials that help us to blur the boundaries between biological and man-made machines.

10.  Materials that repair themselves:  Bacilla Filla

Bacilla Filla is a material that patches up the cracks in concrete structures, restoring buildings damaged by seismic events or that have deteriorated over time.  Custom-designed bacteria burrows deep into the cracks in concrete, where they produce a mix of calcium carbonate and a special bacteria glue that hardens to the same strength of the surrounding concrete.  Materials that can detect their own flaws and damage and repair themselves will revolutionize the way we build and think about building materials in the future.

Image courtesy madsilence.wordpress.com

Three score and ten years ago, a bunch of scientists invented aerogel, a material so air-entrained that it makes angel food cake seem as dense as a lead ingot.  As an insulator, aerogel is “four times more efficient than fiberglass or foam … according to Dr. Peter Tsou of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ‘you could take a two- or three-bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot'” (Fox).  Aerogel is lightweight, efficient, flameproof, vapor-permeable, and more plastic than fiberglass or foam insulation.  And, until recently it has been prohibitively expensive.

Image courtesy Aspen Aerogel

You make aerogel by first constructing a conventional gel, and then replacing the entrained liquid though supercritical drying.  If you’re thinking supercritical drying involves some pretty harsh language and a lot of gelatinous tears, think again.  The process is “accomplished by increasing the temperature and pressure of the solvent phase inside of the gel structure beyond its critical point. This ‘supercritical’ extraction condition lowers the surface tension between the liquid and the solid pore surfaces so that depressurization of the system at temperatures above the critical temperature leaves the pore structure filled with gas. The resultant material is 90 percent air, but retains the structure and rigidity of the non-liquid gel components” (Source: Aspen Aerogel). 

Image courtesy Aspen Aerogel

I’m thinking of this kind of like a salad dressing where you mix oil and vinegar together vigorously, so that tiny droplets of vinegar are suspended in the oil.  The supercritical part is that you basically zap the vinegar out and suddenly the oil has tiny pores in it where the acid used to be … only the salad dressing is more solid than oil, really it’s kind of like swiss cheese…. Hmmm maybe the culinary metaphor was the wrong way to go. 

Anyway, you might want to grab a chair at this point because you’re not going to believe this next part and you might fall down if you’re standing up because I mean really, who comes up with this stuff???

Researchers (I know not where) decided to soak some cellulose, which is the structural component of plant cells from which we make paper and cardboard, in a solution of metallic nanoparticles (like ya do).  In case you’re taking notes, the solution was comprised of iron sulfate and cobalt chloride, so the cellulose fibers took on the properties of metal and became magnetic.  Next, in order to turn this crazy wood-metal cocktail into an aerogel the researchers freeze-dried the nanoparticle-infused cellulose, leaving behind a lightweight, moisture-free, porous mesh of solid fibers.  This resulted in “a flexible, lightweight, super-absorbent sponge that can also be crushed down into a flat piece of magnetic “nanopaper” capable of supporting 400,000 pounds per square inch” (Dillow).  Or to put it another way, it can support the weight of approximately 33 adult male elephants per square inch.

Image courtesy www.popsci.com (The Aerogel is supporting a brick).

The resulting material can be flexed and folded, and it’s highly absorbent.  If you hammer the air out of it, you are essentially left with a piece of magnetic paper that can support the weight of the aforementioned elephants.  Applications for a “super-strong, flexible, absorbent, magnetic sponge” abound in materials science: for example, it could easily find a home in “microfluidic devices like fuel cells or used to make small actuators” (Dillow).  I could also see how it might be incorporated as a filter or used to insulate submarines.

WU XING:

Filing under wood and metal – this was a no-brainer.

Cited:

Dillow, Clay. “New Flexible Cellulose Aerogel is both a Magnetic Sponge and a Flexible Nanopaper” Popsci.com 08/09/10.  Accessed 10/26/10.  URL.

Fox, Stuart. “Superinsulating Aerogels Arrive on Home Insulation Market at Last” Popsci.com 02/04/10. Acessed 10/26/10. URL.

Scientists Juergen Pfitzer and Helmut Naegele, working with Norbert Eisenreich, Wilhelm Eckl and Emilia Inone-Kauffmann found that lignin, a key ingredient in every piece of wood, can be “transformed” into a renewable plastic if it’s combined with resins, flax and other natural fibers. The resulting bio-plastic, called Arboform, can be thermoformed, foamed, or molded via injection machines.  It’s durable and super-precise when it’s cast, and it degrades similar to wood into water, hummus humus, and carbon dioxide (Nicola). 

Image courtesy http://www.tecmente.comuf.com/

130 million pounds of lignin are produced by the paper and pulp industry each year as a waste product of the paper-making process.  Manufacturers need to remove the lignin from cellulose in order to make paper white; they usually just burn it away.  Arboform diverts the lignin from the waste stream so manufacturers don’t need to cut additional trees to produce it.  Lignin could replace millions of barrels of oil that go into making traditional plastics.

Tecnarowas founded in 1998 by the scientists to produce and offer Arboform commercially.  In 2010, the company is “due to produce 275 tons of Arboform and several other biodegradable and renewable polymers it has developed over the past years.  Several products made of Arboform have been revealed, including baby toys, furniture, castings for watches, designer loudspeakers (Arboform has wood-like acoustic qualities), golf tees that degrade on the course and even coffins” (Nicola).  Car manufacturers are using Arboform for dashboards and interior designers are having it cast into small knobs and other intricate pieces that would be difficult to create with wood.

Image courtesy Tecnaro

Regular plastics “cost between70 cents and $3.20 per pound, the price for Arboform starts at $1.70 per pound. If the oil price continues to rise, then Arboform might even be cheaper one day. Its environmental price tag is already hard to beat” (Nicola).  I find the concept of this product exciting: they’re taking lignin out of the waste stream and using it to make useful objects that degrade harmlessly when they’ve outlived their usefulness.  Can’t beat it.

WU XING:

I’m filing Arboform under wood, because it is completely wood-like, and water, because it can be thermoformed and thus has characteristics of a liquid.

Cited:

Nicola, Stefan. “German Company Sells Liquid Wood.” Spacemart.com. 11/20/09.  Accessed 07/28/10.  URL.

Even if building owners aren’t always eager to spend the considerable amount of capital it takes to certify their projects with green building programs like the US Green Building Council’s LEED and the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes, municipalities are increasingly adopting green standards into law.  Green building programs and codes don’t expressly certify materials, but material choices can go a long way towards meeting recycled content, low VOC, and reclaimed materials requirements for certification.

Kirei USA (kirei is the Japanese character signifying “beautiful”or “clean,” and it’s pronounced “Key’-ray,” in case you wondered) seeks to introduce panel products manufactured from rapidly renewable and reclaimed agricultural fibers to market for use in building interiors.

The base materials for Kirei Board, Kirei Coco Tiles and Kirei Wheatboard are the inedible stalks and husks of sorghum, coconut, and wheat plants.  The agricultural fiber that’s not sold by farmers for use in the manufacture of Kirei board takes up space in landfills or gets burned up and pollutes the air, so removing a portion of it from the waste stream is a good thing.  Additionally, rapidly renewable and/or FSC-certified wood are used as bonding strips where needed, cutting down (ha!) on “habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples, and violence against people who work in the forest and the wildlife that dwells there” (Source: Forest Stewardship Council).

I’ve often suspected that the reason people are living longer and longer these days is that we’ve been preserved by all the air born formaldehyde we’ve been inhaling our entire indoor lives.  Kirei products use “no added formaldehyde” adhesives, which sounds like an improvement over past materials – although the word “added” makes me think there might be some formaldehyde lingering in the mix.  I don’t know for certain; I do not review Materials Safety Data Sheets so I’m out of my depth.

Kirei Board: reclaimed sorghum straw and no-added formaldehyde adhesive.  A strong, lightweight, durable substitute for wood, intended for use in furniture, cabinetry, casework, and interior design elements.

Note: all images courtesy kirei USA.

Kirei Wheatboard: an answer to formaldehyde-emitting wood MDF products.

Kirei Bamboo: I’ve extolled the merits of Bamboo products before, and according to the product website, the veneers used in Kirei Bamboo panel come from dedicated bamboo plantations generally on reclaimed farmland.

Kirei Coco Tiles: reclaimed coconut shells, low VOC resins, and sustainably harvested wood backing for use as decorative tiles or panels.  Available in light and dark patterns.

WU XING:

I’m filing the Kirei family of products under wood because it’s all inedible agricultural waste and wood, and I’m also filing it under water because of the adhesives that are used to create the panels.