Promoting safe and extended use of wood products in health buildings through development of antimicrobial surfaces, hygiene concepts, and guidelines
Coordinator: Vesa Virtanen, University of Oulu, Finland
vesa.virtanen (at) oulu.fi
Other partners: DE, LV, NO, SE
Duration: 2022-2025 (to be confirmed)
Project objective: WOODforHEALTH will promote safe and increased use of wood products through the development of antimicrobial surfaces, hygiene concepts and by providing the first extensive guideline for use of wood in healthcare buildings. This will be in response to demands from both the construction industry, investors and owners of healthcare buildings. The research team will explore the limits and potentials for wood products in healthcare buildings with an emphasis on surface aspects and use this exercise to develop a guideline. The aim of WOODforHEALTH is to meet these requirements with wood products whose uncoated and coated surfaces are holistically characterised for their technical, environmental, and economic performance.
Abstract:
WOODforHEALTH advanced the use of wood and wood-based products in healthcare environments by combining expertise in architecture, wood engineering, coatings, microbiology and healthcare design. A key outcome is the first international guideline for using wood in healthcare buildings, bringing together case studies, regulatory insights and practical guidance on wood surfaces and coatings.
The project also supported the development of new antimicrobial coating products, from laboratory research towards commercial application, with potential relevance beyond healthcare to schools, hospitality, public transport and food-processing environments. Research on surface microbiomes further provided new evidence on differences between wooden and non-wooden surfaces in a hospital setting.
WOODforHEALTH made possible research that we could not have done without international collaboration. It brought together ecological paints and creative architect office with polymer chemists, wood engineers and microbiologists in a network allowing also comparison and collection of national practices.