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Abstract: In the context of climate change, aligning residential building practices with environmental priorities is increasingly important. Wood products, with their lower carbon footprint compared to most alternatives, present a viable solution for more sustainable construction. However, consumer awareness of these benefits remains limited. While interest in sustainability is rising, many consumers still perceive wooden structures as less durable, more vulnerable to fire and earthquakes, harder to insulate, and more expensive to maintain. Additionally, environmental considerations often rank below cost, design, and durability when selecting materials for construction, furnishing, and renovations. To explore these perceptions, we conducted a quantitative survey in 2023 involving 1,009 participants from a representative marketing panel in Slovenia. The study assesses Slovenian consumers’ environmental identity, climate concerns, and the frequency of eco-friendly choices, while examining the importance of sustainability relative to other factors in home design decisions. We further analyse the prevalence of wood-based materials in Slovenian households and gather insights on attitudes toward wood in construction. Our findings highlight the need for targeted communication campaigns to address consumer misperceptions about wood’s durability and environmental benefits, drawing comparisons with past studies from other countries. This research provides actionable recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders to enhance consumer engagement and support the adoption of wood as a sustainable building material.
Keywords: survey research, wood, sustainable construction
Published in RUP: 23.12.2025; Views: 129; Downloads: 2
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Abstract: The reuse of reclaimed timber in structural applications is increasingly recognized as a strategy to extend ma- terial life cycles and reduce waste. Particular attention has recently turned to reusing reclaimed timber in adhesive-free laminated products with wooden dowels, where connection performance is critical. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanical performance of double-shear connections assembled from reclaimed spruce timber using thermo-mechanically densified wooden dowels. The dowels were first evaluated in bending and embedment tests on lamellae made from both reclaimed and virgin spruce timber. The shear capacity of the connections was then evaluated in three layups: two homogeneous (all-reclaimed lamellae and all-virgin spruce lamellae) and one hybrid (reclaimed side lamellae with a central virgin spruce lamella). Analytical predictions were performed based on the draft of the new Eurocode 5, however, with two alternative definitions of dowel bending resistance (ultimate moment Mu and yield moment My), and three alternative definitions of embedment strength (f 0.05d h calculated using the 0.05 d offset method, f Fmax h calculated from Fmax, and f 0.8Fmax h calculated from 0.8 Fmax). The three lamellae layups exhibited relatively similar mean capacities (7.3–8.3 kN). The all-reclaimed connections were on average 13 % stronger than the other assemblies, but this was not statistically significant. Among the model input variants, Mu with f 0.05d h showed the closest agreement with the experimental mean values, while My with f 0.05d h led to more conservative predictions preferable for design. In both cases, excluding outliers from the embedment test results reduced overestimation in the predictions. All other input variants overestimated the shear capacity. Overall, both homogeneous and hybrid connections with reclaimed timber lamellae performed comparably to virgin timber connections and exhibited predictable mechanical behavior.
Keywords: reclaimed timber, wood densification, structural reuse, embedment strength, dowel connections, European yield model, Eurocode 5
Published in RUP: 17.12.2025; Views: 157; Downloads: 2
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Abstract: Finger-jointed timber boards for cross-laminated timber production are typically assigned the same characteristic bending strength (fm,j,k) if produced from the same strength class, regardless of differences in their cross-sectional dimensions. To validate the relevance of this approach, this study investigated the effects of cross-sectional dimensions on the bending performance of finger-jointed timber produced from spruce (strength class: C24). A large industrial dataset of 1100 specimens, with seven thicknesses (ranging 20 to 40 mm) and variable widths, were statistically analyzed. The bending tests were performed with a constant span-to-depth ratio (l/h = 18), meaning thinner specimens had a shorter test span. Bending strength was modeled with Bayesian multilevel linear model, and the proportions of three quality-control failure modes (joint interface failure, joint base failure, and outside-joint failure) were analyzed with a zero-one-inflated Dirichlet regression. Based on the results, all groups with n ≥ 100 exceeded the declared fm,j,k of 27.6 MPa, with characteristic strengths of 43.7 MPa (+58.3 %), 40.0 MPa (+45.0 %), and 38.3 MPa (+38.8 %) for the 20-, 30-, and 40-mm thickness groups, respectively. Thinner specimens demonstrated higher bending strength with convincing evidence (pairwise contrasts PD = 100 % with 95 % HDPIs entirely below zero), while width had no credible effect (PD < 95 %). Dirichlet regression revealed shifts in failure mode proportions with varying strength. Higher bending strengths were associated with a higher proportion of joint interface failure. Outside‑joint failure was observed with a higher proportion in lower-strength and thicker specimens. Overall, assigning uniform fm,j,k to various cross-sectional dimensions proved to give adequate safety margins. Beyond the uniform fm,j,k, however, statistical evidence of a size effect on both bending strength and failure modes was observed. The magnitude of the observed size effect reflects the combined influence of increasing thickness and test span under the current quality control bending test regime, which means a coupled change in stressed volume and geometry rather than a pure cross-section scaling effect. These findings are relevant to flatwise four-point bending tests on finger-jointed boards from industrial production made with visually graded C24 spruce with thickness ranging 20 to 40 mm.
Keywords: wood, finger joint, strength
Published in RUP: 18.11.2025; Views: 308; Downloads: 5
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Abstract: Thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) treatments can be used to improve certain properties of underutilized wood species, especially those with low densities. These treatments densify the wood by softening the cell walls using heat, pressure, and moisture but are subject to set-recovery (recovery of compressive deformation) when exposed to humidity. Phenol-based resins have been successful in mitigating this issue when impregnated into the wood. This work explores the use of a new phenol-based resin combined with a THM treatment to limit set-recovery and produce products with the potential for flooring applications. Scratch resistance, hardness, and glue-line shear strength were used to assess the performance. The THM treatment and impregnated phenol resin used in this study increased the scratch resistance, density, and hardness of natural poplar wood and created satisfactory bonding conditions for flooring purposes. With optimization of THM parameters and resin solids content, the resulting product could provide a high-quality flooring material used alone or as a thin laminate from a low-density species like poplar
Keywords: densified wood, impregnation, phenol resin
Published in RUP: 25.07.2025; Views: 654; Downloads: 5
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Keywords: vehicle routing, multi-echelon, variable neighborhood search, wood waste
Published in RUP: 15.09.2024; Views: 1314; Downloads: 22
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