Implications of the SS&E requisite & the LPSA

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This site first appeared on-line on January 22, 1997. Last update: September 01, 2010

The case for Black Locust (robinia pseudoacacia) SDT

This is an invasive hardwood species that has 2-3 times the crushing strength of structural concrete. Its decay resistance abolishes the need for chemical preservation. By virtue of the LPSA system, SDT members could be mounted “green”, thus eliminating the need for and cost of wood drying. As a construction material, Black Locust SDT’s processing energy requirement is less than one tenth of concrete’s. Theses superior properties make black locust SDT a serious, environmentally sustainable competitor to both structural steel and concrete as a construction material, especially for exposed structures like bridges.

The SS&E requisite implies adding value to or creating value for presently unused or misused resources and preserving endangered environmental capital. In the case of the LPSA technology, the endangered environmental capital is the natural forests. With the new added/created value, the prohibitive tax on development needed to restore the global environmental balance could then be offset, or even reversed into net dividends.

Environmental, economic and engineering science implications of the LPSA technology using small diameter timber (SDT)

Commercial demand for mature sawn timber is the main cause of deforestation, a major contributor to global warming and climate change. Introducing SDT as a low-cost, high quality alternative to sawn timber could save the world’s natural forests, inhibit forest fires and create an engine for sustainable socio-economic development.

Timber has been a no-go theme for advanced engineering studies due to the near-randomness of its sawn form. This explains the conspicuous lack of interest in timber research at universities and the low-level theory taught in undergraduate timber engineering courses.

SDT’s predictable growth-ring structure opens up wide horizons in engineering testing, modeling and analysis of sustainable materials and structures. For more information about the present state-of-the-art in SDT utilization, click here.