Demolition timber finds a new life thanks to the computer system from ETH Zurich

In the era of combating climate change, striving to reuse everything you can is a recipe for slowing down the elements of industry that harm the world. An example of this is the reuse of demolished wood, e.g. a house, to build another structure. It is not easy, but the team at ETH Zurich has managed to work out a way to deal with this problem.

How to use demolition wood? The new computer system answers that

A computer system is currently being developed at ETH Zurich to directly guide designers how to use individual wooden sections. It is initially used to create an inventory of all pieces of wood that users have recovered from a building or other structure to be demolished.

After saving the dimensions of all elements, it is enough to specify the type and size of the structure, and the system will respond by generating a structure design, the geometry and dimensions of which are based on the available recycled wood. Each piece of wood has a unique QR code laser etched, making it easy to select and assign to a specific part of the structure.

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In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of this system, Catherine De Wolf undertook the dismantling of an entire floor of the old car park in Geneva, which was soon to be demolished. Then the pieces of wood were individually measured, nails and other foreign bodies were removed, data were entered into the system and QR codes were applied. Based on the design created by the system based on the available timber, the team set about building a geodesic dome out of wooden bars. It is made entirely of recovered materials.