Wood-Based ‘Foam’ Tech Developed by UBC Researchers Draws Federal Capital

An economic development entity based in British Columbia is commercializing sustainable building materials derived from forestry byproducts.

The Yinka Dene Economic Development Limited Partnership, or YLP, is partnering with the University of British Columbia’s Department of Wood Science to scale a technology dubbed DicinFoam.

The “foam” is actually a biodegradable, fire-retardant material made from ligno-cellulosic nano-materials (“Dicin” translates to “wood” in the Wet’suwet’en language).

Development of DicinFoam began when a project, “Developing Fire Retardant Thermal Insulating Materials from Lignocellulosic Nanomaterials for Building and Construction,” garnered sponsorship by the BC Ministry of Forests.

This year, the now-patented technology is being scaled toward commercial applications.

In Canada, innovation around wood has thus far oriented around structural materials such as timber, according to Dr. Feng Jiang from UBC’s Department of Wood Science.

But “non-structural materials like insulation haven’t received the same attention,” he explains.

“We wanted to create something that performs like polyurethane foam, but is renewable, fire-safe, and derived from waste,” said Jiang.

Jiang’s team believes that it has developed a scalable technology for recyclable, binder-free micro-fibrillated lignocellulose foams with flame resistance, thermal insulation, and mechanical performance.

In addition to support from the Ministry of Forests, YLP recently confirmed that it has secured further funding via Natural Resources Canada’s Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program.

Created in 2010, IFIT aims to facilitate the adoption of transformative technologies and products in the Canadian forest sector by bridging the gap between development and commercialization.

As part of a 2026 renewal, the IFIT program added support for projects that advance the development of forest bio-products, advanced biofuels, low-carbon building materials, and diversified pulp and paper products that are new to the market with potential to substitute non-renewable materials like plastics.

Freshly funded, YLP’s DicinFoam project will next establish a pilot plant in Vancouver.