THE ECONOMY OF THE BIO-BIO REGION IN CHILE IS MAINLY LINKED TO A NATURAL RESOURCES SCENARIO WHERE PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES HAVE A STRONG PRESSURE ON THE ENVIRONMENT. THE REGION IS THE LARGEST FORESTRY CENTER IN THE COUNTRY, WITH 83% OF BOARD MANUFACTURE. HOWEVER, ACTIVITIES IN THIS SECTOR, BASED MAINLY ON THE SUBSTITUTION OF NATIVE FORESTS BY PLANTATIONS OF PINUS RADIATA, AND THE REGION'S SECOND PLACE AS INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE (ISW) GENERATOR IN THE COUNTRY ARE DETRIMENTAL TO ITS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. THE PRESENT RESEARCH AIMS TO STUDY THE COMPATIBILITY AMONG PARTICLES OF P. RADIATA, UREA-FORMALDEHYDE AND COWHIDE FROM LOCAL FOOTWEAR MANUFACTURING AND CLASSIFIED AS ISW. THE METHODOLOGY INCLUDES AN IDEATION PHASE TO DETERMINE FORMAT AND LEATHER PERCENTAGE TO BE INCORPORATED AS RAW MATERIAL INTO A BASE MIXTURE USED IN THE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION OF CONVENTIONAL PARTICLE BOARDS (SECTION 63 OF ECE-FAO CLASSIFICATION). TEST TUBE SAMPLES COMPOSED OF P. RADIATA AND UREA-FORMALDEHYDE PARTICLES, AND OF P. RADIATA, UREA-FORMALDEHYDE AND LEATHER PARTICLES, ARE ELABORATED FOR TESTING OF PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES WHICH ALLOW COMPARISON OF THE FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE OF BOTH TYPES OF BOARDS. THE TESTS PERFORMED SHOWED THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO REPLACE P. RADIATA BY LEATHER WASTE IN UP TO 10% FOR THE DEFINED TYPE OF BOARD, WHICH IMPLIES AN EQUIVALENT SAVING OF WOOD RAW MATERIAL AND A 100% UTILIZATION OF WASTE MATERIAL GENERATED BY THE LOCAL FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY.

THIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE STUDY OF INDUSTRIAL SOLID RESIDUES FROM THE AGRO-INDUSTRY, GENERATED FROM THE PROCESSING OF BARLEY, A MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANT THAT BELONGS TO THE POACEA FAMILY. THE POSSIBILITY TO BECOME THE MAIN RAW MATERIAL OF A BIOMATERIAL APPLICABLE TO SUSTAINABLE HABITAT IS ANALYZED, SINCE ITS FIREPROOF AND EASY ADAPTABILITY PROPERTIES WOULD ALLOW TO PRODUCE BOARDS WITH MECHANO-PHYSICAL BENEFITS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF PINE, WIDELY MANUFACTURED IN CHILE. A SECOND ASPECT WAS THE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTATION WITH A NATURAL RESIN OBTAINED FROM CASTOR OIL, IN ORDER TO CREATE A FULLY BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL AND CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCE NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. THE BOARDS WERE DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED TO BE USED AS COATINGS FOR INTERIOR SPACES, WITH A FINISHED SURFACE OF BARE MATERIAL. AS THE INPUT FOR THE IDEATION PROCESS CONSIDERING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COMFORT MATTERS FOR FUTURE USERS, METHODS OF AFFECTIVE ENGINEERING WERE INCORPORATED IN THE DEFINITION OF SURFACE FORMAL BOARD FEATURES, DESIGNING SINUOUS SURFACES THAT EVOKE FEELINGS OF CONFORT, DISTRACTION, TRANQUILITY AND COZYNESS. FUNCTIONALITY AND AESTHETICS WERE COMPLEMENTED IN A PROPOSAL WITH PRODUCTIVE FEASIBILITY AND ADAPTABLE TO THE FIELD OF SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION.