Sandwich elements from renewable resources as a structural component in the architecture

The necessary thermal insulation for buildings was provided for years optimally by polymer foams. Generally the foam is based on petrochemical resources. It is used for external wall insulation and not employed for additional functions. A Sandwich build of rigid laminates and a quite shear resistant polymer foam core results in an extraordinary stiff element. This provides thermal insulation and forms an independent load carrying structure. The sustainability of the sandwich structure can be raised by combining materials from renewable resources. The sandwich system currently developed, in cooperation with our partner from industries C3 Technologies, consists of lignin based foams of varying density and natural fibre reinforced laminates. The lignin is produced from beech-wood via the organosolv-process. Afterwards it is chemically integrated into the phenolic resin. The proportion of lignin in the resin can be varied from 10% up to 40%. This poses a quite prospective idea since using lignin means using nature's own synthesis instead of artificial petrochemical processes for resin production and thus reducing the energy needed for resin production.