The goal of this study was to develop standard methods of measurement for determining physical properties of lignocellulosic biomass, and also establish a physical property database of different material species. The methods can provide us with access to parameters for building and designing a pretreatment system. This work provides methods to determine particle size distribution after shredding, specific heat, bulk density and water content of common agricultural and forestry wastes in Taiwan, such as, rice straw, bagasse and wood chip. These properties can be used for scale-up design of pretreatment process for sustainable lignocellulosic biorefineries.