Impact KPI-5 New wood products and building systems

IO2: Solid wood processing

By 2019 Scion will have supported wood processing and manufacturing companies by delivering new value enhancing tools and technologies that assist them to meet their growth targets and encourage increased investment in wood-based manufacturing and more productive timber-based construction techniques in New Zealand.

Leading indicator
Progress
By 2016 Scion will have demonstrated to a pre-commercial stage at least one new wood preservation/protection system that supports New Zealand wood products in the most environmentally discerning markets.
Outdoor trials (decking, flat panel, L-joints) of up to 30 months exposure showed no sign of decay in timber treated with the new preservative. Framing tests carried out in the accelerated fungus cellar were in good condition with no decay observed. This was unlike the untreated controls that had completely decayed.

By 2017 Scion will have demonstrated and secured external investment to enable at least one new modified wood product to compete in high-margin market segments.

Progress has been slower than expected, with scale-up trials to demonstrate a new timber modification treatment not completing the outdoor trials until late 2016. All other aspects were collated and are being shaped for external investment.
By 2018 Scion will have produced thermally modified wood samples from at least three species, large enough for market place testing. Durability, stability and structural performance have been assessed and commercial feasibility explored. The information is being used by an investor company to establish the commercial feasibility of the modified wood process. 
Silver beech, tōtara and Douglas-fir boards (heartwood and sapwood) were thermally modified and durability screening test results are due in July 2016. The scale-up trial on Eucalyptus nitens was completed; a preliminary feasibility study at pilot scale was less promising than lab-scale results.
By 2019 WoodScape has been upgraded to reflect both new products and new knowledge developed for current technologies.  Assessments have been made to the business case stage, and for the development of a new or substantially enhanced wood manufacturing operation.
The WoodScape model supported the MBIE-funded Wood Energy Industrial Symbiosis (WEIS) project with addition of nine processing technology options and calculations for: GHG emissions, energy return on energy investment for bioenergy technologies, IRR and NPV. A paper was published in NZ Journal of Forestry (Vol.61, No.1 May 2016) “The impact of operating scale and exchange rate on the profitability of some major wood processing options – analysis using the WoodScape model.” The @Risk analysis tool was purchased for Monte Carlo risk analysis; preliminary results were presented to the WEIS workshop in June 2016. Monte Carlo analysis will be embedded into the model in 2016-17.
By 2019 Scion will have progressed a novel wood modification that incorporates some of the key attributes identified in the business cases to a pre-commercial stage.
See 2017 outcome. New modifications are being tested at lab scale with at least one showing promise as a new patentable technology.

By 2019 Scion, with National Science Challenge 11 science and industry partners, will have developed a platform to provide better performing, higher amenity built environments in terms of affordability, performance and sustainability. This platform addresses the wider impacts of intensive living on the urban environment.
Participated in discussions and meetings through to January 2016 and also in the governance group meetings and activities, including the formal launch in Auckland (May 2016). Science plans still not completed.