LIGNOLOC® supports design for disassembly in timber construction
With LIGNOLOC®, you join wood to wood with wooden nails instead of metal nails
Whether a building can later be taken apart depends on how its components are joined, too. The connection helps decide whether they can be separated, reused or recycled by material type.
Why LIGNOLOC® wooden nails are suitable for structures designed for disassembly
LIGNOLOC® wooden nails join timber components to each other, metal-free. When the nail is driven in, frictional heat activates the lignin: the nail bonds firmly with the surrounding wood and becomes part of it.
Elements nailed with LIGNOLOC® remain timber components without metal fasteners. The result: structures can be separated again, and the resulting components are easier to reuse.
Whether a building can be disassembled is decided at the design stage
Hardly anyone thinks about deconstruction at the design stage. Yet that is exactly when it is decided whether a building can later be returned to the material cycle or will have to be disposed of at great cost. At the end of their life cycle, buildings must be able to be returned to energy and material cycles: this is the only way to create a circular economy in construction. Deconstruction descriptions document how components can be dismantled without damage, recycled separately, and disposed of or reused in line with the principles of circular construction. What matters is not only the building materials used, but equally how they are joined:
- How are materials with different service lives connected to each other?
- Can layers and components be separated without damaging adjacent layers?
- Do the resulting material streams remain mono-material – or do they become hard-to-recycle composites?
Fasteners (screws, metal nails) and adhesives made of different materials can turn timber structures into composite systems that are harder to deconstruct. LIGNOLOC® addresses the key point of fastening and makes the connection an active design decision for buildings constructed according to the principles of circular construction. Wall elements nailed with LIGNOLOC® do without metal fasteners: the life cycle of a building is considered from the design stage on, and components can be reused under certain conditions.
SCRAIL® nail screw fasteners are also suitable for deconstruction: they can be unscrewed so that connected components can be released.
A fresh take on fastening: LIGNOLOC® by BECK joins wood to wood – with no metal in the component.
Three factors in the deconstruction of buildings – and how LIGNOLOC® contributes
Design for Disassembly: plan deconstruction from the start
Design for Disassembly (DfD) means considering from the very first draft how a building can later be dismantled into components and materials with clear pathways for reuse and recycling. LIGNOLOC® wooden nails support this principle because the connection itself is designed for circularity. Timber frame, CLT, NLT and timber block constructions using LIGNOLOC® can be documented as timber components without metal fasteners, integrated into material passports and BIM models, and later deconstructed in a targeted manner.
- Simplified deconstruction descriptions – The nailing adds no metal to the component. Load-bearing and non-load-bearing elements can therefore be clearly placed in the DfD concept, and the nailing creates no metal fraction in the deconstruction description.
- Potential in building certification – Connections without metal can be taken into account under criteria for disassembly and recyclability. This depends on the respective certification system and the overall concept of the building. For life cycle assessments, the EPD for the LIGNOLOC® wooden nail is available (EPD-RAI-20240485-IBA1-DE).
- More end-of-life options – Nailed timber components can be reused or recycled as material, depending on condition and construction. Metal from the nailing does not have to be removed first.
- Preservation of embodied energy – When timber modules are reused, the embodied energy stored in them is retained instead of the modules being discarded as mixed construction waste.
Architects and planners already use LIGNOLOC® today to plan the deconstruction of buildings from the start: from multi-storey timber housing to demountable office buildings and temporary beach pavilions. The references show projects in which deconstructability and reuse played a role in choosing LIGNOLOC®.
Where LIGNOLOC® wooden nails support recycling and deconstruction
In mass timber construction, LIGNOLOC® connects board layers, laminations or timber blocks without metal nails, whether CLT, NLT/nail-laminated timber or timber blocks. These elements then consist only of wood and wooden nails. Load-bearing elements can be reused as complete elements after case-by-case assessment. Alternatively, they can be machined like solid timber and recycled.
In timber frame construction, LIGNOLOC® connects studs, rails and sheathing to form load-bearing wall and ceiling elements – entirely without steel nails. During deconstruction, entire elements can be removed as modules, or boards can be separated along predefined cut lines and reused.
Wood shingles, rhombus boards or profile cladding can be fastened with LIGNOLOC® – metal-free and without creating thermal bridges through metal. During replacement or deconstruction, timber fractions are produced that can be processed or recycled further without prior separation.
Timber interior cladding can be fastened with LIGNOLOC®. When modifications or deconstruction are needed, you stay flexible: components can be machined with standard woodworking tools, cut-outs can be adjusted, and elements can be released or recycled, depending on the construction.
FAQ
Yes. Mass timber elements nailed with LIGNOLOC® can be sawn, milled and machined with standard woodworking machines. LIGNOLOC® wooden nails are made of densified laminated beech wood, so the nailing adds no metal to the material. What recovery is possible in each case also depends on adhesives, coatings and treatments in the rest of the component.
Yes. LIGNOLOC® wooden nails hold European Technical Assessments (ETA) for load-bearing timber connections. The ETA states the permitted uses and the design values for load capacity and withdrawal resistance. For the North American market, an IAPMO evaluation covers use in load-bearing timber elements.
Edge distances, penetration depths and mechanical values are in the LIGNOLOC® Handbook. Our application engineering team provides documentation and project-specific recommendations: Request expert advice. For special cases, we also run tests on your material.
The nailing is easy to describe in a deconstruction description: the nails are made of densified laminated beech wood, they become part of the wood, and they need neither to be denailed nor separated as metal. Elements are separated along defined cut lines, and the nails stay in the wood. Nailed components can be recorded in material passports and BIM models as timber components without metal fasteners.
That depends on the certification system and on the overall concept of your building. LIGNOLOC® wooden nails add no metal to the nailing. That can be taken into account under criteria for disassembly and recyclability, for example in systems such as DGNB, LEED or BREEAM. Your certification body decides which points you actually receive in your project. For the life cycle assessment, the EPD for the LIGNOLOC® wooden nail is available (EPD-RAI-20240485-IBA1-DE). According to the nova-Institut life cycle study (May 2018), producing a LIGNOLOC® wooden nail causes up to 66 % less CO₂ than producing a comparable steel nail.
From single-family homes to serial modular construction: with LIGNOLOC® wooden nails, you design timber structures that can be erected efficiently today and deconstructed again tomorrow.