Innovative bio-based building materials with thermal energy storage function

Información del proyecto

BIOBUILD

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 101135629

DOI

10.3030/101135629

Fecha de la firma de la CE 17 Noviembre 2023

Fecha de inicio 1 Enero 2024

Fecha de finalización 31 Diciembre 2027

Financiado con arreglo a

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Coste total

€ 4 808 467,00

Aportación de la UE

€ 4 636 971,25

Coordinado por

SVERIGES LANTBRUKSUNIVERSITET
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BIOBUILD (Innovative bio-based building materials with thermal energy storage function)

Período documentado: 2024-01-01 hasta 2025-06-30

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

The aim of the BIOBUILD project is to demonstrate fully bio-based building materials with thermal energy storage function that can replace high environmental footprint products. Our solution demonstrates functional incorporation of bio-based phase change materials (bioPCMs) into solid wood and fibres bound by plant oil resins, lignin, or fungal mycelium to produce novel bio-composite building materials with significantly improved thermal properties. The novel materials possess multifunctional performance, meet requirements for sustainable “green” production, and ensure end-of-life options and recycling.

Phase-change materials (PCMs) are substances that undergo melting/solidifying at certain temperatures accompanied by storing and releasing of thermal energy. PCMs perform best in small volumes and thus, they must be encapsulated into small cells. BIOBUILD uses the wood cells as low-cost porous structures (storage cells) for encapsulation of renewable bioPCMs for extensive use in green building products for energy saving. The project aims at increasing heat storage while retaining strength and improving durability and sound insulation properties of the initial materials.

All new buildings in the European Union (EU) must be carbon neutral by 2030. This is a part of the changes in the EU legislation. All new public buildings must become coal-for-heating neutral by 2027 aiming at implementing the rules for energy efficiency of buildings towards the European Green Deal (EGD). The above imposes a transition to energy efficient building, exclusion of fossil fuels and transition to renewable heat sources to guarantee carbon neutrality of our cities.

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

BIOBUILD incorporates a selected bioPCM (ethyl palmitate) into the cells of solid wood, wood particles, fibres by impregnation and optimize the bioPCM uptake to eliminate leaching. Simulteniously three bio-binders for wood fibre-bioPCM composites using a) polymerizable plant oils, b) lignin, and c) fungal mycelia are studied, optimized and produced. The binders and the solid wood impregnated with bioPCM demonstrate and validate the above technologies by production of wood fiber-bioPCM composites as building material (wallboards) and solid wood flooring (parquet) with improved thermal performance.

The operational environment as system prototypes (TRL7) is employed to demonstrate house wood construction prototypes with integrated novel wallboards and parquet and evaluate the energy-saving performance of the prototype houses in Spain and Sweden. The project validates the novel building materials and houses by their durability and exploitation properties, fire retardancy, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aesthetic perception.

The project employs ex-ante life cycle assessment (LCA) for each product and investigates long-term recyclability to ensure that the materials meet improved sustainability, circularity, and safety standards. The project is a part of the clustering activities of other European projects and initiatives as well as disseminate widely the integrated breakthroughs and results of the project to facilitate acceptance among stakeholders and society. Determine the industrial, environmental, social and economic challenges and benefits of the new technologies to facilitate their market uptake and transferability to other bio-based materials.

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

The project’s achievements beyond state-of-art are engineering and demonstration of the novel products and establishment of value chains for these products, from experimental proof and technology validated in laboratory and relevant environment (TRL4-5) to completed and qualified demonstration of prototypes (wood construction buildings) in operational environment i.e. TRL7.

The work towards the project objectives after the first 18 months delivered buildings typology classification considering the specific climate zones in Europe, identification and analyses of existing standards within the scope of the project (biomaterials and methodologies for flooring and wallboards with bioPCM) and environmental benchmarks for buildings with LCA approaches. WP1 selected European technical and market codes to support the standardization and business development of the project and identified 28 key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the performance of the novel materials at material and building level.

Four wood species were selected and studied to find the appropriate form of wood materials for flooring and wallboards. Schedules for thermal modification and microwave treatment were studied to improve wood permeability and diminish the leaching of the impregnated bioPCM. Two optimal impregnation schedules for bioPCM into wood materials were revealed for application on an industrial scale.

Knowledge and experience in the synthesis of epoxidized plant oil, lignin and fungal mycelia as binders for the wallboards with bioPCM was generated. The results were confirmed by initial demonstrations of bioPCM and parquet production and ongoing tests with the three bio-binders prior to the production of the materials for the model houses. The projects progressed significantly by building, site exposure and commissioning of the model houses in Spain and Sweden. The above progress has a positive impact on the work in the other work packages, which has delivered preliminary findings on energy performance, life cycle environmental impacts and cost of the building materials with thermal energy saving function.

BIOBUILD promotes research and development but also networking activities with other Horizon Europe projects by establishment of a cluster with the relevant projects CircBoost, WOODCIRCLES, RECONSTRUCT and INGUMA for collaboration and sharing of knowledge and expertise in the topic of bio-based building materials and energy efficiency in buildings. Creation of corporate visual project identity, social media accounts, project website, project templates as well as dissemination materials are essential part of the DEC activities in the project.