Towards carbon negative acoustic environments in buildings

The exhibition includes an open booth made of carbon negative wood-fibre based acoustic panels developed by our research team. Come and experience the biofibre-based acoustic panels.

Mineral wool and fossil-based materials dominate the acoustic building materials market.  While they can be partially produced from recycled materials, such production requires highly intensive energy processes, and they lack the capability to sequester carbon from the atmosphere when compared with plant-based building materials.  

Our research has studied the use of wood-based fibres as an alternative raw material to produce acoustic building materials. Properties of wood-based fibres strongly depend on their origin and the chemical and mechanical methods used for their isolation and treatment processes. It is essential to investigate the ultrastructure of different types of wood-based fibres to understand their properties for the optimisation of sound absorbers. Wood-fibre based acoustics materials are biodegradable, renewable, recyclable, and most importantly, they act as carbon sinks, sequestering the carbon from the atmosphere during its operating life. Using such materials in buildings improves the sound environment of spaces as much as traditional materials and reduces the carbon footprint of buildings, thus contributing to alleviating climate change.

This research project is a collaboration work between a research-based company Lumir Oy and Aalto University.  

Project team

• Tapio Lokki, Professor at Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics 

• Tuomas Hänninen, R&D Director at Lumir Oy 

• Kari Kammiovirta, Research Engineer at Lumir Oy 

• Jose Cucharero, Doctoral student at Lumir Oy (Full-time visitor at Aalto University)