For decades, drying sub-alpine fir and yellow spruce is known as an unmanageable task mainly due to the high moisture variation and the presence of wet-wood that result in a broad spread of moisture in kiln-dried timbers. For this reason, a considerable portion of under-dried and over-dried wood can be observed in kiln-dried subalpine fir and yellow spruce. In this research, I will examine whether the final moisture variation could be alleviated by optimizing sorting methods and drying schedules.

During the production of pulp, in the pulp and paper manufacturing process, one component of the tree is extracted into the pulping liquid. This component, called lignin, has potential value as an important renewable material for adhesives, fibre, and coatings. The proposed research has the focus on evaluating the pulping liquid for all of its components and transforming the lignin material into prototype materials for forest industries in British Columbia.

The forest industry in British Columbia (BC) is facing increasingly difficult challenges regarding fibre supply. New winch-assist technology that enables fully mechanized ground-based forest harvesting on steep terrain has been increasingly used in BC since 2016. The new systems have improved safety and provide access to fibre that was previously uneconomic. New low-consumption small-size cable yarders have also received increasing interest in non-trafficable terrain.

The aim of the study is to look at the available research on forest machinery production data and collect further data on forest machinery working in conditions that have not been studied before. In so doing we hope to determine what value the production data collected in British Columbia provides as a management tool when it is used in the conventional way and compare that to systems around the world that have access to the same or more advanced production data.

Computer-based simulation software, called hygrothermal modeling has become increasingly popular and useful to predict and evaluate heat, air, vapour, and water-related performance of buildings. This research project aims to improve such modelling for wood construction through validation using specifically measured property data and field/lab performance data. The goal is to make modelling a more reliable design tool and to subsequently improve the design and construction of both mass timber construction and light wood-frame construction.

Currently, petroleum-based water resistance membranes are used in the construction industry in order to create a barrier against water. These make recycling a challenge during building demolition, as well as create a significant carbon footprint of their own. The purpose of this project is to develop a paper-based water barrier to replace the petroleum-based alternatives. In partnership with FPInnovations, two postdoctoral scholars will develop and benchmark the technology, working both at UBC and FPInnovations in Vancouver and Pointe-Claire.

The goal of this research is to use the developed information around the technical, economical and social political challenges for the implementation of small-scale bioenergy systems in remote indigenous communities in Canada. The targeted outcome creates a multi faceted model to evaluate the success and impact of future installation with less input factors to simplify the technology transfer and lower the overall investment requirements for communities or stakeholders.

The forest industry in British Columbia (BC) is facing increasingly difficult challenges regarding fibre supply. New winch-assist technology that enables fully mechanized ground-based forest harvesting on steep terrain has been increasingly used in BC since 2016. The new systems have improved safety and provide access to fibre that was previously uneconomic. New low-consumption small-size cable yarders have also received increasing interest in non-trafficable terrain.

Heat and electricity generation from biomass combustion in power boilers and co-generation plants produces large quantities of ash residues in British Columbia (BC) each year. In 2013, approximately two thirds of the produced ash were landfilled in Canada and only the remaining one third beneficially utilized. On the other hand, high-quality construction materials are rare in many parts of the world, and most often engineers are forced to seek alternatives to reach the stipulated requirements.

The large global production quantity of particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF) creates equal quantity of particleboard and MDF waste after completing their service life. Given increasing demand for green products and the new government’s environmental policies, it is urgent to develop technologies to recycle these used composite panels into valuable raw materials for manufacturing composites again.
This research will focus on the development of recycling solutions for waste Urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin-bonded particleboard and MDF.