Timber-cardboard’ sandwich panels’ clad with timbers recovered from thinnings in NSW forests could be the nucleus for developing low-cost, eco-friendly temporary housing systems for deployment in disaster scenarios like the 2022 floods —offering Northern NSW communities a much-needed lifeline ahead of the next round of climate-induced disasters.
That is, according to a new project supported by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the Land and Primary Industries Network. The project, which is a collaboration between Southern Cross University and the University of Queensland, has developed two systems – a hybrid timber-cardboard sandwich panels using cardboard ‘studs’ bonded to radiata pine plywood, hoop pine plywood, particleboard, and MDF, as well as thinning and pulpwood structural elements, which uses low diameter roundwood and residues to frame and clad the walls.
Led by Mahmoud Abu-Saleem, Kim Baber, and Joe Gattas from the University of Queensland, Andrew Rose from Southern Cross University, and Fabiano Ximenes from the NSW Department of Primary Industries, the systems are designed to maximise value creation and carbon sequestration across the building lifecycle.
Off-the-shelf housing could be a lifesaver for distressed communities.
Southern Cross University’s Professor Andrew Rose said one of the biggest issues at the time of the disaster was a lack of potential housing and shelter. He said that this is not only a bio-based housing product but also provides low-cost, high-quality shelter for people who have been adversely affected by disasters.
Meanwhile, University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Joe Gattas said the project showed a new class of structural composite product: the hybrid timber-cardboard sandwich panels.
“In the current design system, the structural components consist of cardboard, which is fully recycled or sourced as a waste product, bonded to plywood skins.”
University of Queensland Professor Joe Gattas on the emergence of a new structural product – the timber-carboard sandwich.
“By using locally sourced forestry by-products, residues, and waste materials, (we can) reduce manufacturing costs and significantly reduce embodied carbon emissions,” the researchers said in a report published earlier this month, who worked closely with Hurfords, Big River, Weathertex, Australian Panels, Visy, Ausco, Jowat Adhesives and Forestry Corporation of NSW. “These materials remain in use for longer, avoiding emissions from end-of-life forest, landscape, or landfill decay.”
Wood Central understands the system layout has been optimised to simplify fabrication and assembly, minimise production waste, and allow for straightforward disassembly for reuse or recycling: “This project brings together the complementary expertise of government, research, and industry partners, representing each stage of the value chain—from forest resources to wood products and final building applications,” they said. “This collaboration is a radically new approach to resource-efficient building design, suited to low-carbon, sustainable, and scalable delivery models for post-disaster temporary housing.”
- To learn more about cardboard-based disaster housing, click here for Wood Central’s special feature on Shigeru Ban’s paper log cabins.
