WERC Residential CLT Project
WERC Innovations Grant Residential Cross Laminated Timber Panel Project-2018 to 2023
This project is supported by the Wood Education and Resource Center of Princeton, WV and its Wood Innovations Grant program. This program annually supports new concepts in wood products development and marketing.
Our efforts involve the development of a system of using existing cold presses left over from the US casegoods furniture industry that are largely idle and press a stack of CLT panels for residential homes. Our review of the economics of the residential panel system is that a factory with four presses and a robot layup machining center could produce $13 million of panels annually that could build 500 homes. Each press would consume approximately 1.5 truckloads of #2 grade Southern yellow pine and this offer a significant market for lower grade pine lumber from the Southern states from plantation and natural pine stands.
We have been assisted by a large group of industry businesses and professionals who have assisted us with sample lumber, adhesives, advice and other items that we have used to produce four test runs of panels. The legacy furniture industry cold presses can hold 150 psi for over an hour as required to produce approximately ten panels per cycle. Each press can produce just under 2,000 square feet of CLT panels that at $7 per square foot, be competitive with stick built homes. Thus in two days in a factory, a 1,000 sf home using our CLT panels for walls, floors and roof panels would take about two days in the factory. We expect a crew using a rental lift for the 400 pound panels would take two days to assemble.
North Carolina State University Wood Products Extension is the unit overseeing the project and its team members include Harry Watt, Phil Mitchell and Frederik Laleicke. Harry Watt is the contact person for the grant and his contact information is email at harry_watt@ncsu.edu and phone at 704-880-3067.
Results
We finished the project on January 31, 2023 and were successful in developing the concept of using left over equipment from the US casegoods furniture industry to make residential CLT panels. We received great support from the forest and wood products industry with gifts of lumber, adhesives, the use of equipment and lots of advice about forest practices and marketing.
We made a total of nice trial runs where we set up to make panels. We tested the panels and got mixed results, mainly because of issues related to the application of adhesives. We use the approved isocyanate adhesives used in the glu-lam industry that have wonderful structural properties for engineered wood products, they are difficult to use as they kick over with exposure to moisture in the air and from wood.
Our efforts included discussions with builders and the construction industry were we improved the concept of using our residential CLT panels for homes and small commercial buildings. We received donations of lumber and adhesives with technical assistance that was useful to the development of the concept.
Our project report can be found at this link.
Our users guide for residential CLT panels can be found at this link.