Research on lightweight construction: Wave-shaped wood fibre material helps in logistics

The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.

The basis for the new material system is a wave-shaped wood fibre material developed by the Saarland-based company Homanit in Losheim. Researchers plan to combine this with sheet-shaped cover layers, such as wood fibre boards, to create a very lightweight but extremely stable product. The new material system is not only intended for the furniture industry and door construction, but can also be used in the logistics and packaging industries as well as other sectors. This will significantly reduce resource consumption, as not only will material be saved, but transport will also require less energy in future.

The HoReLei research project is receiving three years of funding totalling €473,000 from the Saarland Central Technology Programme (ZTS) of the Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy. Of this, €273,000 will go to Saarland University. The HoReLei project, which aims to 'develop and use wood fibre-based, resource-saving lightweight construction elements', was launched on 1 December 2025 at the Chair of Lightweight Construction Systems at Saarland University in cooperation with the company Homanit. Professor Hans-Georg Herrmann not only heads this chair, but is also a member of the management committee at the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing IZFP on the Saarbrücken university campus.

Questions will be answered by:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Georg Herrmann
Chair of Lightweight Construction Systems
Saarland University/Fraunhofer IZFP
Tel.: +49-681-9302-3820
Email:  hans-georg.herrmann(at)uni-saarland.de