The Revolutionary Role of Wood in our Future

By David Bengston
USDA Blog
January 5, 2018
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Some people are just way ahead of their time. In the mid-20th century, when most people thought of wood as an archaic and low-tech material, Egon Glesinger foresaw the revolutionary role it would play in our future, described in his book The Coming Age of Wood. Scientists in the Northern Research Station’s new Strategic Foresight Group developed a horizon scanning system to identify emerging issues and trends that could be game-changers. A theme that has emerged is the wave of amazing innovations in wood products that could prove Mr. Glesinger right. For example, wood-based nanomaterials have been produced at the Forest Products Lab (FPL) for more than five years… Tall wood buildings, or plyscrapers, are sprouting up across the globe today …Power-generating wood flooring is being tested at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The list of high-tech innovations in wood products goes on. 

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