Some interesting ideas presented at the HANNOVER MESSE 2007

Polymer composite panels from renewable raw materials: researchers from the Polymer Engineering/Polymer Physics Group at TU Berlin presented panels made by (80%) of polymer waste material mixed with hemp, seaweed, animal fibers or sisal. Especially the seaweed panels showed very interesting properties in terms of extreemly low swelling, good fire resistance and some antibacterial efficiency. Further tests with other waste materials and other mixtures may result in interesting new products for construction and furniture making.

Skiing on bamboo: Researchers of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft found that bamboo offers considerable advantages and good properties for making ski out of the renewable material. They got a patent and offer licences for production.

Bark insulates many tree species effectively from the heat of forest fires or from low winter temperatures. So insulation products for buildings could be made from bark(presented by NICOL-Stiftung).

An interesting idea from a Bavarian carpenter: metal sleeves around wooden pillars to keep them completely water-soaked and by this to prevent them from the fungal destruction near the water or soil surface. The inventor Florian Icard-Reuter is looking for industrial partners for marketing and field tests!