I recently went on a tour of the Ecowaste Wood Material Recovery Facility to collect samples of wood chips for potential feedstock for defibration studies as the first step in an upcoming wood fibre insulation project. The Ecowaste MRF collects solid and composite wood waste from construction and demolition drop-offs then transfers the to the MRF where it is hammermilled, striped of metal contaminants, chipped, sifted of plastics, then chipped again. The chips are stored briefly onsite before they are sold on to end users. In 2024, Ecowaste has sold all of its chipped wood waste to Kruger for energy production. This stock of material represents a significant potential feedstock for wood fibre insulation production, and future testing will determine its suitability.

Below are some images of the site tour. Thank you to Nabil Drissi El Bouzaidi for taking the time to tour me around the site.

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credit: Kaia Nielsen-Roine

Seven generations for Wood is currently developing a Guidebook of Design for Deconstruction in Light Wood Frame Construction. The guidebook will elaborate on the design for deconstruction system that was developed in the seven generations wood thesis project and will illustrate deconstruction principles and solutions for a range of building elements. A new deconstructable mock will also be built to assess and showcase the design logics. Go to Design4Deconstruction to see the full project and all updates.

This is the beginning of the Seven Generations for Wood research project blog. This page will update periodically as the research progresses.