Cement-bonded wood fiber is a composite material manufactured throughout the world. It is made from wood (usually waste wood), chipped into a specially graded aggregate that is then mineralized and combined with portland cement.
Cement-bonded wood fiber is used to manufacture a wide variety of products primarily for the construction industry (products like insulating concrete forms).
It is known for its use in LEED-certified projects and other types of green building. The material itself is 100% recyclable, and is known for its insulating and acoustic properties. Cement-bonded wood fiber is more commonly known under brand name Durisol.
It has been used for alternative building and does not require marketing under any brand name. When used/made by home builders it is generally known as 'sawcrete' as in a concrete made of sawdust (fine wood pulp) and cement. walls made of sawcrete can be made in many ways including in formers as used in rammed earth. It can also be formed within the standard timber framework of a house with wires attached between studs to provide 'reinforcing' but more importantly a key to hold the material to the stud frame.
In this instance each wall is constructed flat on the floor with a layer of heavy duty plastic between the frame and the floor to protect the floor from water and from staining/damage. When the sawcrete has set, the wall is stood up in place and connected to other wall sections, each wall section being made in the same manner.
A possibly interesting anecdote was where a chicken coup was built with sawcrete (on Bodhi Farm near Nimbin NSW, Australia). The chickens pecked at the wall over time causing some damage. It can only be assumed that the sawdust in the sawcrete apparently, to the chickens, looked like food.
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