‘Superwood’ replaces steel and concrete

A startup turns undervalued wood into strong but light building materials

Spotted: The global building value chain is responsible for a whopping 37 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, with the modern-day backbone of concrete and steel playing a large role. The need for more sustainable building materials and practices is only increasing as concrete jungles grow larger around the globe, and startup InventWood might have one solution.

The company reworks undervalued wood into high-performance, climate-resilient ‘Superwood’ building products. These innovative materials are designed with forest health and sustainability as a priority, right alongside material properties to rival conventional materials. 

InventWood uses proprietary technology to restructure the nano-cellulose fibres that make wood nature’s strongest material, working from the cellular level upwards. This results in a product that’s not only stronger and lighter than steel, but also highly resistant to fire, insects, and rot. The company’s first-to-market product, MettleWood, has material properties that make it viable to replace up to 80 per cent of the world’s steel and concrete, with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, a lower production cost, and all while retaining the natural aesthetic of wood. 

Adding to its benefits, MettleWood can be produced using various wood types, including fast-growing and invasive species. This means that the harvesting process can be used to enhance forest diversity and ecosystem health, rather than feeding into destructive deforestation practices. And because it’s so lightweight, transporting Mettlewood is cheaper and less carbon-intensive than steel or concrete, and using the material can also speed up construction time.

InventWood hints at a pipeline of future materials that are also currently under development. This includes an innovative honeycomb structure that can be used across transportation and architecture, insulating wood that can protect from heat loss and forceful impacts, and even a transparent wood. 

The company expects to launch commercially in early 2025 and to help scale production, the company recently secured $8 million in new funding from investors including Builders Vision, Echelon, and John Rockwell. This builds on previous investment from the Grantham Foundation, and a 2022 cash injection of $20 million from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (DARPA). The latest funding will help InventWood with its goal of producing up to one million square feet of Superwood annually from its Maryland pilot facility.

Written By: Oscar Williams