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submitted 1 month ago by Zerush@lemmy.ml to c/green@lemmy.ml

InventWood's Superwood represents a breakthrough material that transforms ordinary wood into a substance stronger than steel through molecular restructuring and densification[^1]. The company is launching a 90,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland in Q3 2025 to begin commercial production[^7].

Key features of Superwood:

  • 50% more tensile strength than steel with 10x better strength-to-weight ratio[^9]
  • Fire-resistant, rot-resistant, and pest-resistant while maintaining wood's natural appearance[^7]
  • Created through a two-step process involving chemical treatment and hot-pressing[^8]
  • Can be produced in hours rather than weeks using "food industry" chemicals[^9]

Environmental Impact:

  • Could replace up to 80% of global steel and concrete use[^5]
  • Potential to reduce carbon emissions by 37.2 gigatons over 30 years[^5]
  • Trees act as carbon stores: steel produces 1.85 kg CO2 per kilogram, while wood removes 1.8 kg CO2[^5]

Business Development:

  • Secured $15 million in Series A funding in 2025[^7]
  • Total capital raised exceeds $50 million[^7]
  • Formed partnership with Intectural for North American distribution[^7]
  • Initial products will focus on building facades before expanding to structural applications[^9]

[^1]: InventWood — Technology [^5]: InventWood aims to 'replace steel and concrete' [^7]: InventWood Announces $15 Million First Close of Series A [^8]: New Atlas - 'Superwood' that's 50% stronger than steel is coming this year [^9]: TechCrunch - InventWood is about to mass-produce wood that's stronger than steel

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[-] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago

Very cool, I'm cautiously optimistic.

I wonder how competitive the material is on price. If it's close or better than alternatives, then the bus will basically drive itself on adoption, which would be fantastic.

[-] pH3ra@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago

By reading the production process, I think it's going to be cheaper to build a factory that produces this kind of material instead of a foundry for melting metal. It all depends on what are the limits of the manifacture (eg. how long/large/thin/thick my pieces can be, what kinds of wood can be used, how to source it and stuff like that)

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago

They are using fast growing wood, like eg. pine, no need of an special natural hard wood.

this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2025
73 points (98.7% liked)

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