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Microtimber: Advanced Building Elements Made from Waste
Creating high-performance building materials from waste
New research is showing positive results when harnessing 3D printing technology to combine timber and plastic waste and create high-performance building elements.
Waste is a pressing global problem that depletes our primary resources and impacts on our environment. The construction industry is a prime offender, consuming 30-50% of primary materials and producing around 40% of landfill through construction and demolition. In Australia, 85% percent of logged timber and 88% of plastics are wasted and end up in landfill. This project shows that timber and plastic waste are a valuable resource and can be transformed into smart sustainable building elements, using advanced manufacturing technologies in the form of 3D printing.
3D printing can do things that current construction technologies cannot: The 3D printing process allows architects to design at the nanoscale, fluidly varying the material composition and printing parameters to make building elements of variable strength, density, shape, texture and colour as demonstrated in the microtimber prototypes. Future research will develop this concept towards building houses that are affordable and sustainable and can be recycled.
Project team
- Sandra Karina Löschke – Associate Professor in Architecture
- Gwenaelle Proust – Deputy Director Sydney Manufacturing Hub
- John Mai – Sydney Manufacturing Hub
- Yerong Huang – School of Engineering
- Eduardo Barata – Lecturer in Architectural Technologies
- Arianna Brambilla – Lecturer in Architectural Technologies
- Richard Hough – Adjunct Professor