- Interior view with three
- pre-fabricated wNLT panel types.
- 1. East wall made of
- wNLT and no glue or
- plywood.
2. South wall made of wNLT, glue and 3/4” plywood.
3. Roof (5:12 pitch) made of wNLT and 3/4” plywood.
- Image credit:
- Jana VanderGoot, 2024
- wNLT Construction
- Training Session with
- M.Arch Alumni Jose
- Gomez at the University
- of Maryland School of
- Architecture, Planning &
- Preservation
- Image Credit: Jana
- VanderGoot, 2023
- Interior view looking
- North highlighting hybrid
- construction techniques.
- Conventional light
- frame wood is used
- construction for the 7:12
- pitched roof (left) and
- wNLT is used for the the
- 5:12 pitched roof (right)
- Image Credit:
- Terry Bower, Baybrook
- Remodelers, 2024
- Fire-damaged saw logs
- that have developed
- bluestain fungus.
- Warm Springs
- Reservation, Washington.
- Logs with fire damage,
- blue stain, or insect
- damage are considered
- low-value or waste wood
- in the building
- construction industry and
- are very difficult to sell to
- mills.
wNLT construction technology can upcycle a wood waste stream because it aggregates smaller pieces of low quality timber that are not considered structurally viable or valuable for light frame construction.
Image Credit: Carbon Containment Lab, 2022
- Wood nail welds are the
- foundation of wNLT
- technology. Wood nails
- driven at high-velocity
- with a pressurized nailer
- burn the wood substrate
- and create a solid wood
- “lignin” weld that
- improves wood nail pull
- out resistance. Pull-out is
- limiting factor for metal
- nails.
Wood fasteners offer significant advantages during pre-fabrication with CNC routing equipment, which would otherwise be damaged by metal nail fasteners.
Removing metal fasteners after a wood building’s useful life is an obstacle to recycling wood buildings. Downstream applications for recycled wNLT panels are possible saws are not damaged by wood nails.
Without metal fasteners, wNLT is viable for composting and biofuel applications.
- Image credit: Jana
- VanderGoot, 2023
- Ease-of-use and points
- of-failure were explored
- during construction. The
- most common failures
- were:
- 1. Incomplete fastener
- insertion due to incorrect
- positioning of driver,
- density of wood substrate,
- and compressor pressure
- settings.
2. Brittle failures along nail line for nail spacing less than 4” on center and for nails inserted too close to endgrain.
Image credit:
Jana VanderGoot, 2023
- Cork building insulation
- prior to construction of
- charred wood rain screen
- siding.
Image credit:
Terry Bower, 2024