New panels could make temporary housing “cheaper, lighter and more sustainable”: UQ

Lightweight timber-cardboard construction panels developed at University of Queensland’s School of Civil Engineering offer a promising solution in temporary housing for displaced people, according to the university. 

According to a statement from UQ on Wednesday, the panels are the subject of a new paper in the journal Structures, and come with benefits including reduced cost and environmental impact, as well as being 50 per cent lighter than a previous design.

PhD candidate Mahmoud Abu-Saleem – an author on the paper alongside Associate Professor Joe Gattas – said in the statement that cardboard is among the most highly recycled packaging materials in Australia.

“There’s no impact on waste generated and no increase in resource consumption,” Gattas said. 

“You’re essentially extending the service life of that material before it gets recycled again.”

The new structures are described as “timber-cardboard web-core sandwich (TCWS) panels”, and are made of “thin timber facings separated by cardboard studs and air pockets.”

The research used them as a substitute for “timber-cardboard sandwich (TCS) panels”, which incorporate “a solid monolithic cardboard core”.

Lab tests showed the TCWS to be 50 per cent lighter than TCS panels “and just as strong, or stronger, for their weight.” The new panels were also 33 per cent stronger versus “similar foam or bio-based panels.”

TCWS panels were used in a prototype “cardboard house” at the university’s Pinjarra Hills Research Facility, and according to the release “have held up well” in the wet Queensland summer. The researchers made use of the same principles as timber-clad homes to deal with the weather “including substantial eaves, often seen on iconic Queenslander-style homes.”

Picture: supplied