Southern Cross University part of pioneering cardboard homes emergency housing project

A Northern Rivers university is pushing to use waste cardboard and timber materials to create high-quality temporary homes after natural disasters like the record floods two years ago.

One of the homes. Picture: University of Queensland

A Northern Rivers university is pushing to use waste cardboard and timber materials to create high-quality temporary homes after natural disasters like the record floods two years ago.

Southern Cross University (SCU) has had a prototype on display at its Lismore campus and hopes the “pioneering” housing approach will help get victims rooves over their heads more quickly.

Researchers have teamed up with government and industry partners to develop the environmentally friendly homes, with all materials sourced in the region.

Mahmoud Abu-Saleem, Andrew Rose and Joe Gattas.

SCU Professor Andrew Rose said the homes use regional resources more efficiently than other solutions and avoid excess waste.

“One of the goals of the project is to create a house that’s not only safe and structurally sound but also to use as many materials as possible of the highest value.” Prof Rose said.

He said a novel cardboard material has been used for structural components.

“It’s basically just a series of cardboard sheets that are glued together and then cut to shape. It costs about $1000 per sqm,” Prof Rose said.

When the Northern Rivers was recovering directly after the 2022 floods, the biggest hurdle was getting survivors shelter, according to Prof Rose.

“Not only is this bio-based housing product ideal as something that relates to the circular economy, but it also provides low-cost, high-quality shelter for people who have been adversely affected by disasters,” he said.

University of Queensland PhD candidate Mahmoud Abu-Saleem with the prototype.

University of Queensland associate professor of civil engineering Joe Gattas said “timber-cardboard sandwich panels” used are well-suited for temporary housing.

Prof Gattas and PhD candidate Mahmoud Abu-Saleem developed a building panel using cardboard as the core, with plywood skins.

The panels outperform traditional foam core sandwich panels by 30 per cent in structural performance, according to researchers.

University of Queensland associate professor of civil engineering Joe Gattas and PhD candidate Mahmoud Abu-Saleem with one of the cardboard cores.

The prototype is being used to test durability, floor systems, internal linings and finishings, as well as get an idea on pricing.

“This modular based prototype comes on a flat base and then (includes) pre-built wall frames and things that people can easily self assemble,” Prof Gattas said.

Mr Abu-Saleem from Jordan has been working as the “fabrication guy”, making the cardboard cores.

Southern Cross University Professor Andrew Rose, University of Queensland PhD candidate Mahmoud Abu-Saleem and University of Queensland associate professor of civil engineering Joe Gattas with the prototype at Southern Cross University.

“We started thinking about how we could use waste cardboard we could then reprocess into composites to be able to be used in our structures or post-disaster temporary housing,” he said.

The cores are manufactured in a lab from waste cardboard, which is reprocessed, laminated and sealed with weatherproof external cladding.

The project has seed funding from the NSW Decarbonisation Hub’s Land and Primary Industries Network.

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