{"data":{"news":{"items":[{"title":"AI detects contaminated construction wood with 91% accuracy","date":"2025-06-06 00:10:55","id":5874,"author":"","blurb":"","blurb_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2025/06/1749092219437_Capture copy.JPG","blurb_expanded_image_uid":null,"article":"\n\t\n\n\n

A new AI system that can automatically identify contaminated construction and demolition wood waste has been developed by researchers from Australia’s Monash University and Charles Darwin University (CDU).

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Published in ‘Resources, Conservation & Recycling’, the study presents the first real-world image dataset of contaminated wood waste - a major step towards smarter recycling and sustainable construction.

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The research team, led by Madini De Alwis with Dr Milad Bazli (CDU), under the supervision of associate professor Mehrdad Arashpour, head of construction engineering at Monash, trained and tested cutting-edge deep learning models to detect contamination types in wood waste using images.

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Contaminated wood from construction and demolition sites often ends up in landfill due to the difficulty of sorting it manually. But by applying AI models, the team found strong precision and recall across six types of wood contamination.

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“We curated the first real-world image dataset of contaminated construction and demolition wood waste,” said Ms De Alwis, a PhD candidate at Monash’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

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“This new system could be deployed via camera-enabled sorting lines, drones or handheld tools to support on-site decision-making.”

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While computer vision has been explored in general waste streams, its application to contaminated wood waste has remained limited, until now.
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\n“By fine-tuning state-of-the-art deep learning models, including CNNs and Transformers, we showed that these tools can automatically recognise contamination types in wood using everyday RGB images,” said Dr Bazli.

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Wood waste is one of the largest components of construction waste globally. Most of it can be recycled, but contamination from paint, chemicals, metals and other construction residues makes sorting difficult and costly.

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“This opens the door to scalable, AI-driven solutions that support wood waste reuse, recycling and reclamation,” said Dr Bazli.

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By integrating AI with waste management practices, the study supports Australia’s circular economy goals and the global push for greener construction.

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“This is a practical, scalable solution for a global waste problem. By enabling automated sorting, we’re giving recyclers and contractors a powerful tool to recover valuable resources and reduce landfill dependency,” said Ms De Alwis.

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Image: Monash/CDU

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Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has officially opened its eighth zero-energy building. Named Gaia after the Greek goddess of earth, this six-storey development is dubbed the largest wooden building in Asia. It is home to the Nanyang Business School (NBS), covering 43,500 sq m of gross floor area.

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The new facility is built using mass engineered timber (MET). This green technology was first adopted for the construction of NTU’s mega sports hall, The Wave, launched in 2017. The two buildings are the works of Japanese architect Toyo Ito.

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As the name suggests, Gaia is constructed with sustainability in mind. According to NTU, compared to a normal building, Gaia produces about 2,500 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year – equivalent to more than 7,000 roundtrip flights from Singapore to Hong Kong.

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The emission reduction is achieved through energy efficient systems and renewable technologies. The timber used for the construction of Gaia was sourced from sustainably managed forests, which means new trees are planted to replace those that are harvested, explained NTU. The carbon offset from planting trees to replace those used in Gaia totals 5,800 t of CO2 – same as the carbon footprint of about 17,000 return flights between Singapore and Hong Kong.

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NTU also revealed that solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed on the rooftop churn out 516,000 kWh of clean energy to power the building annually – enough to power 169 three-room HDB flats for a year. Instead of fans, Gaia has sun shading fins along parts of its facade and incorporates extensive open areas, terraces, and air wells to increase ventilation.

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Its air-conditioning system saves energy by using passive cooling coils to chill the air without the use of fans (passive displacement ventilation), added NTU. These coils work by creating a natural convection cycle, cooling the air as it sinks downwards, which displaces the warm air upwards.

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Furthermore, external facade bricks from the NTU Innovation Centre, which previously stood at where Gaia is located, were preserved, and re-used to build a decorative wall in the building, in a nod to the university’s heritage.

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Gaia is the eighth building project on the NTU campus that has received the Green Mark Platinum (Zero Energy) – the highest award issued by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) to recognise buildings that consume as much energy as they produce. Presently, there are 16 certified zero-energy buildings in the country, of which half are located on NTU grounds. This makes NTU the greenest campus in Singapore.

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NTU said plans for sustainability related programmes in Gaia are underway, in collaboration with industrial collaborators, to inspire more to learn and live sustainably through an in-person experience. All of Gaia’s classrooms and laboratories are also equipped with the latest technologies, as part of the university’s Smart Campus initiative.

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Singapore’s Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing, who was guest-of-honour at the opening ceremony, pointed out that “as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) play an important role in making sustainability a competitive advantage for Singapore. Gaia is a testament of NTU’s continued efforts to be a leading sustainable university. I look forward to more innovations from the community, as we all do our part to create a sustainable future.”

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“Gaia is an integral part of NTU’s commitment to sustainability,” stressed Prof Ho Teck Hua, president of NTU, as he concluded his speech. “It demonstrates an innovative approach to creating a sustainable urban environment. We hope it will serve as an inspiration to many others.”

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All images: NTU Singapore

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Danish wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, has recently made a new investment in Swedish wood technology company Modvion, which last year successfully installed its first wooden wind tower.

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“Our collaboration with Modvion holds significant potential to help accelerate the energy transition and further increase sustainability within the wind energy industry,” said Bo Svoldgaard, senior vice president and head of innovation and concepts at Vestas, as quoted in a press release issued by Modvion in June this year.

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“Modvion’s towers are lighter than traditional ones and have a modular product architecture which aligns well with Vestas’ strong focus on modularisation,” explained Mr Svoldgaard. “The construction facilitates transportation to logistically challenged places and allows for increased turbine hub heights, potentially contributing to a reduction in cost of energy.”

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According to the press release, the corporate venture capital arm of Vestas, Vestas Ventures, boosted its investment in Modvion through a recent directed share issue. The first investment was already made in February 2021.

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Modvion further highlighted the benefits of its wooden towers, which can significantly reduce emissions from wind turbine tower manufacturing operations. The modular design also enables higher towers to be built at a lower cost. The carbon dioxide absorbed by the trees during their growth period remains stored in the wooden tower, allowing climate neutral wind energy.

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”We are excited for the opportunity to support the world’s leading wind turbine manufacturer in reaching their ambitious sustainability targets and offering their customers even more climate-smart wind energy. To tackle the climate crisis, we need more renewable energy and increased use of sustainable, wooden constructions, and Modvion’s technology enables both,“ said Otto Lundman, CEO of Modvion AB.

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Vestas’ new investment will support Modvion’s rapid production scale-up, with a long-term goal of integrating wooden towers in Vestas’ offerings to accelerate market adoption.

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‘Stronger than steel’

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In April 2020, Modvion’s first wooden tower was erected on Björkö outside Gothenburg, Sweden, together with Chalmers University of Technology and the Swedish Wind Power Technology Centre.

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The 30-m-high tower was built with laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and is currently used for research purposes. The first commercial tower is planned for 2022.

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“By weight, the wooden construction is stronger than steel,” said Modvion, adding that the wooden towers “are built in modules and assembled on site. This modular concept enables higher towers to be built while still using normal roads for transportation.”

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In a separate press release last year, Mr Lundman also emphasised the importance of this innovation. “This is a major breakthrough that paves the way for the next generation of wind turbines. Laminated wood is stronger than steel at the same weight and by building in modules, the wind turbines can be taller. By building in wood, we also reduce carbon dioxide emissions in manufacturing and instead store carbon dioxide in the design.”

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Images and video: Modvion

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Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University has unveiled its new sports hall - The Wave. It is believed to be the first large-scale building in Southeast Asia that features an innovative timber construction technology known as mass engineered timber (MET).

","blurb_image_uid":"2017/05/05/14/21/49/523/Template_website.jpg","blurb_expanded_image_uid":null,"article":"\n\t\n\n\n

Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) recently inaugurated its new sports hall named The Wave. It is said to be the first large-scale building in Southeast Asia that features an innovative timber construction technology known as mass engineered timber (MET).

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According to NTU, such technology provides five times better heat insulation than concrete and is able to support a continuous 72-m wave-like roof without the need for internal columns. This opens up a cavernous three-storey space with no internal pillar, which can host three full-sized basketball courts or 13 badminton courts.

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The Wave is designed with external columns to support the seven long-span timber arches weighing over 440 t. This is possible because MET is much stronger than concrete or steel when comparing its weight-to-strength ratio, said NTU. And as the building process involves assembling prefabricated parts, construction is sped up, resulting in 25 percent savings in manpower.

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The Wave consists of 980 mechanised retractable seats, plus a special cooling system that chills the air as it enters the hall so that no conventional air-conditioning systems are needed, added NTU. Other eco-friendly features include energy-saving LED lighting and solar powered systems.

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The building is also designed to take advantage of its natural surroundings. Using computer modelling of the sun and wind patterns on-site, the building designers aimed to harness the natural winds, explained NTU, and thus good ventilation can be achieved with average wind speeds of about 0.4 m per second.

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“Sustainability is a core value of this university, and we walk the green talk, from education and research, to the building technologies on the NTU campus,” said Professor Bertil Andersson, president of NTU. “As an owner of a pine tree forest in Sweden, I’m a firm believer in sustainable forestry. I’m proud that NTU has pioneered the innovative use of wood in buildings here resulting in another iconic NTU structure, The Wave.”

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Note: More detailed information on the project will be published in the SEAC Jul/Aug 2017 issue.

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