A groundbreaking material called Superwood, engineered by US company InventWood, is revolutionizing the construction industry. This innovative wood is up to 10 times stronger than steel by strength-to-weight ratio, six times lighter, and offers a dramatically lower carbon footprint, promising a new era of sustainable and resilient building.
The quest to revolutionize one of humanity’s oldest building materials has culminated in a remarkable breakthrough: Superwood. Engineered by the US company InventWood, this innovative material is set to redefine what’s possible in construction, offering an unprecedented combination of strength, lightness, and environmental responsibility. With a strength-to-weight ratio that surpasses steel by up to 10 times and being six times lighter, Superwood is poised to dramatically impact how we design and build our world.
The Decade-Long Quest for a Stronger Wood
The journey to create Superwood began over a decade ago with material scientist Liangbing Hu, co-founder of InventWood. While at the University of Maryland’s Center for Materials Innovation, Hu, now a professor at Yale, embarked on a mission to re-engineer wood. His early work even included making wood transparent by removing lignin, a key component that gives wood its color and some of its strength.
However, Hu’s primary ambition was to enhance wood’s strength, focusing on cellulose – the planet’s most abundant biopolymer and the main component of plant fiber. The pivotal moment arrived in 2017 when Hu successfully strengthened regular wood through a novel chemical treatment, dramatically improving its natural cellulose structure and paving the way for a superior construction material. This breakthrough was detailed in a study published in the journal Nature.
The patented process involves boiling wood in a chemical bath, followed by hot-pressing to collapse its cellular structure, making it significantly denser. This weeklong process yielded wood with a strength-to-weight ratio superior to most structural metals and alloys. After years of refinement and the filing of over 140 patents, Superwood has officially launched commercially, representing a monumental leap in materials science.
Unpacking Superwood’s Revolutionary Properties
Superwood is not merely engineered wood; it’s wood altered at a molecular level. Unlike traditional engineered timber products, which are typically rearranged pieces held together with adhesives, Superwood undergoes a chemical process that fundamentally changes the basic structure of its cellulose, compressing it tightly without rebound. This allows it to be made from various wood species, with tests successfully conducted on 19 different types of wood and bamboo.
According to InventWood CEO Alex Lau, “From a chemical and a practical standpoint, it’s wood… except it’s much stronger and better than wood in pretty much every aspect that we’ve tested.” The company states that Superwood is up to 20 times stronger than regular wood and 10 times more resistant to dents. Its collapsed, toughened structure also renders it impervious to fungi and insects and grants it the highest rating in standard fire resistance tests.
For architectural applications, this means structures could be potentially up to four times lighter, enhancing earthquake resistance and reducing stress on foundations. This could lead to faster and more efficient construction. In furniture, Superwood offers a solution to common durability issues, with the potential to replace metal components like joints, screws, and nails that are currently used because wood often isn’t strong enough.
Scaling Up for a Sustainable Tomorrow
InventWood is manufacturing Superwood at its facility in Frederick, Maryland. While production time has been reduced from days to hours, scaling up to meet widespread demand will take time, according to Alex Lau. Initially, the company plans to target external applications like decking and cladding, with a strategic expansion into internal uses such as wall paneling, flooring, and home furniture slated for next year. Ultimately, the vision includes constructing entire buildings from Superwood, although this ambitious goal will necessitate further testing and development.
One of Superwood’s most compelling attributes is its environmental profile, particularly when compared to conventional construction materials. While its current manufacturing carbon footprint is higher than regular wood, it boasts a staggering 90% lower carbon emissions compared to steel production. This makes Superwood a significant player in the global effort to decarbonize the construction sector.
The broader context of timber construction has seen a resurgence in recent years, with wood now being used in the construction of skyscrapers. Cities like Milwaukee are at the forefront, already hosting impressive timber structures and planning even taller ones. This trend is driven by the environmental benefits of timber, which stores CO2 through photosynthesis, effectively turning buildings into long-term carbon storage systems. In contrast, concrete, the most-used construction material globally, contributes approximately 7% of the world’s global carbon emissions, as noted by Our World in Data.
Overcoming Industry Hurdles and Shaping the Future
While Superwood currently costs more than regular wood, Alex Lau emphasizes that the target is not to be cheaper than wood, but to be “competitive with steel” as manufacturing scales up. This positioning highlights its ambition to disrupt the market dominated by conventional heavy materials.
Despite the clear advantages of advanced timber products, the construction industry faces inherent challenges in adopting new materials. Philip Oldfield, an architecture professor at the University of New South Wales, points out that the barrier to more timber buildings isn’t just strength, but the industry’s “risk aversion and slow to change” nature. To accelerate the shift towards sustainable timber construction, he advocates for several key initiatives:
- Better education for architects and builders on new timber technologies.
- More pilot projects to demonstrate real-world applications and benefits.
- Improved regulatory frameworks to accommodate and encourage innovative wood products.
Stronger timber products like Superwood could be instrumental in fostering greater timber uptake by enabling architects to create larger spans and more durable finishes, expanding the creative and structural possibilities of wood in modern architecture.
The Long-Term Vision: A World Built with Superwood
The emergence of Superwood marks a significant milestone in materials science, offering a future where buildings are not only lighter and more resilient but also significantly more sustainable. By providing a low-carbon alternative to steel and concrete, InventWood is contributing to a vital shift in global construction practices. As production scales and industry adoption grows, Superwood has the potential to lead a new generation of sustainable infrastructure, embodying the transformative power of reinventing traditional materials for a greener planet.
