SCHWEIGHOFER PRIZE

Innovationspreis fr die Europische Forst und Holzwirtschaft

Innovation Award for the European Forest Based Sector



Prof. Dr. Gerd Wegener
The winner of Main Prize for 2009 is Prof. Dr. Gerd Wegener from Munich, Germany.
Well known in the Forest Based Sector worldwide both in the scientific community
and in Forest Based Industries - he has been inspiring generations of scientists as well as
managers. His broad interests and knowl-edge in the field of Wood Science, together
with his admirable commitment as editor of major European scientific journals such as
Wood Science and Technology and European Journal of Wood and Wood Products,
made him an outstanding expert in this field. His innovative research has resulted in
numerous new technologies and products.
Especially as a teacher and a speaker at conferences and seminars all over the world, he
is an outstanding ambassador for wood science as well as for wood utilization in
general. His impressive career and achievements and his ongoing inspiration for
innovative R&D convinced the jury to decide in favor of Prof. Wegener.

INNOVATION PRIZES
CADIX THE ALARM SYSTEM FOR DETECTING TERMITE ATTACKS

from left to right:
Miguel ngel Abin Prez, Jos Vicente Oliva
The winning project deals with a big problem for the South European construction
sector termites. They occur in regions with mild Mediterranean climate, but we have to
be aware that they will conquer more northern regions in future as a result of climate
change. Belonging to the cockroach family, they destroy any wooden construction
easily. This presents a major obstacle for building with wood in southern Europe.
This project presents an alarm system based on a motion sensor. It consists of only a
very small box, which is installed in an endangered wooden element, such as a beam or
window frame. As soon as a movement that is similar to that of a termite is detected, the
alarm is triggered. The system has a wireless connection to a computer, which generates
both acoustic and optical alarms. Termite attacks can then be detected at an early stage
and wooden buildings can be protected before it is too late. This is a vital contribution
for an enhanced use of wood in Southern Europe.
CADIX system is been used to monitor several pilot installations, such as the timber
structure of Valencia Cathedral and Palencia Cathedral and some train stations and
private houses. Miguel ngel Abin Prez, Head of the Wood Technology and
Biotechnology at AIDIMA, and his current team is looking to extend the devices
wireless range and incorporate additional parameters into the technology to indicate
degradation at an early stage, including wood discoloration, loss of mass and CO2
emissions. The sensor is currently undergoing commercial production, and it has been
integrated in some innovative developments, such as the wireless architecture used in
the European project SHBUILDINGS.


ADAPT NEW STRATEGY FOR FUTURE FOREST MANAGEMENT BASED
ON CLIMATE CHANGE

from left to right:
Norbert Putzgruber, Alexandra Wieshaider, Werner Rammer, Manfred Lexer
The winning project deals with the problem of planning with a moving target, in the
specific case of climate change. As forest management is always very much future-
oriented plans have to be made at least several generations in advance nowadays it is
of the utmost importance to take climate change into consideration. Several tree species
will not be suitable in future in specific regions, because they cannot cope with new
conditions such as higher temperatures or less rain. Taking into account the observed
regional data of all districts within a big forest enterprise, it is possible to create a
special simulation programme, which allows foreseeing upcoming problems such as
weakened trees, beetle attack and possible storm calamities. Based on that knowledge,
focused actions can be planned and implemented in favour of sustainable forest
management. This system is already implemented in one of the biggest forest
companies in Austria and is already foreseen to be licensed for other forest companies,
even in Canada.
TIMBERTOWER THE FIRST MODULAR TIMBER TOWER FOR HIGH
PERFORMANCE WIND ENERGY PLANTS

from left to right:
Gregor Prass, Sandro Mainusch
The winning team convinced the jury with a revolutionary concept. Instead of steel or
concrete they use wooden modules for constructing towers for wind energy turbines.
The static calculations and design of wooden towers is an outstanding feature of
engineering. This project not only opens a new field for wooden construction, but also
solves a fundamental logistical problem. Towers of steel and concrete have to be pre-
fabricated whole and transported to the site.
The transport of large towers is very costly and complicated, whereas prefabricated
wooden modules are smaller and much easier to transport to the site. They also allow
on-site construction - THE advantage of wood in general. Moreover, the prizewinning
team developed a wood protection system using a membrane in order to protect the
wooden tower from weathering. The first tower will be built in autumn in the Hannover
region of Germany. This is a perfect combination of exploiting natural wind energy and
using renewable building material!

INNOVATIVE LIGHTWEIGHT SANDWICH PANELS MADE OF WOOD AND
WOOD BASED MATERIALS

from left to right:
Michael Schpers, Markus Wolf, Dirk Specht, Ulli Garbert, Heinrich Kster
This award-winning light-weight panel solves a major problem within the furniture and
automobile industries. There is a growing need for light-weight elements, which have to
perform under en-hanced load conditions. This type of panel shows several innovative
elements. One new feature is the middle layer, which consists of a fibre mat pressed into
corrugated form in both directions. This specific form is also able to withstand
transverse tensile forces, which is not common for wood-based panels. Secondly, the
surface layers are milled accurately in order to match perfectly with the form of the
inner layer. This, and the gluing exactly on those spots, guarantees a good fit and opti-
mum transmission of power the most important properties for high-performance
sandwich panels. The panels are already implemented in furniture, as well as in vehicles
such as caravans, as lightweight wall elements.


FIRST INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION OF SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS (SNG)
OF WOOD

from left to right
Christian Aicherning, Martin Schaub, Reinhard Koch, Alfred Waser, Hermann
Hofbauer
This project marks a milestone in the history of renewable energy from wood. The
award-winning consortium has already broad experience with wood-gasification and
gas driven energy plants. Now they have taken a further step by introducing a new
process that results in a synthetic natural gas (SNG) with higher quality than natural gas.
The gas can be fed into gas pipelines without any further treatment; it can be produced
regionally in order to provide cities or regions with natural gas for energy plants or
heating. Moreover, it makes a large contribution to a new generation of fuels from
renewable sources. SNG is suitable either for gas-driven vehicles or as basic product for
diesel or petrol. The winning team has already succeeded in installing a methane
processing unit in Austria
ECO-FRIENDLY IN-DEPTH COLORATION OF SOLID WOOD WITH THE
HELP OF SUPERCRITICAL CO2

from left to right:
Christian Hansmann, Ulrich Mller
The basic idea of this winning project was to develop a wood colorant with a high
penetration depth making use of a supercritical fluid. A substance becomes a
supercritical fluid at a temperature or pressure above a critical point where distinct
liquid or gaseous forms do not exist. a It can diffuse through solids like a gas, and
dissolve materials like a liquid. The penetration is instant and dry, which makes
supercritical fluids optimal carriers of the pigment.
The most important advantage of this method is the lack of moisture, which always
creates problems with the dimensional stability of wood. Moreover, no poisonous
solvents are needed. The project is in an early stage, but very promising first for the
wood flooring sector but also for the (interior) design sector in general. As it is very
complicated to colour wood to high penetration depth, often tropical wood species are
used instead of painted wood. Painted wood cannot be sanded when small
blemisheshave occurred on the surface. By contrast, depth-coloured wood can be
refurbished easily without losing its original colour.