Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Wood, Paper & Green Building

Industry has a ‘complete void of basic knowledge’ on carbon footprints

By Grant Cameron
Daily Commercial News
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

…A recent roundtable of panellists and leaders from various sectors of the construction industry gathered to focus on tactical ways to eliminate carbon emissions. “90 per cent of your footprint is the embodied carbon of the materials that you put in place on jobsites,” explained moderator Tim Coldwell, president of Chandos Construction. “Most sub and general contractors don’t understand the concept of embodied carbon.” …The roundtable hosted panellists and industry leaders to discuss how to eliminate carbon emissions related to the selection of building materials, the supply of the construction elements, the movement of personnel and management of waste from an energy and carbon use perspective. …For example, the wood industry often claims negative embodied carbon because it is stored in the timber. However, Coldwell maintains that’s nonsense because eventually when a structure is demolished and the wood is sent to landfills or is burned, the carbon that was stored gets released.

Read More

WoodWorks Innovation Network Expands to Reflect North American Market Growth

By WoodWorks – Wood Products Council
Newswire
May 18, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, United States

The WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN) has announced a new partnership with the Canadian Wood Council that will expand the number of Canadian projects on WIN, making it a one-stop resource for users seeking to explore mass timber and innovative light-frame projects in North America and connect with experienced professionals. The momentum driving mass timber and taller light-frame buildings in Canada has been significant, and the expansion will enrich WIN with a greater variety of building types, project examples, and design/construction teams. A program of WoodWorks, WIN is a user-driven, online network of projects and professionals, created to facilitate collaboration among companies and individuals using innovative wood building systems and technologies. The addition of more Canadian projects enhances an already rich pool of shared knowledge and expertise. 

Read More

Two years after Lytton burned, not a single building permit has been issued

By Vaughn Palmer
The Vancouver Sun
May 25, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA, BC — On the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed Lytton, the New Democrats predicted that the village would soon begin to re-emerge from the ashes… predicted that most of the 150 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed in the fire would be rebuilt by the time the second anniversary rolls around this June 30. It didn’t happen. There’s been no rebuilding to date. Not even a building permit. …As to why B.C. hasn’t done better, excuses abound. When I asked the government for a response, I got back a statement that tried to put the onus back on poor, beleaguered Lytton. …Notwithstanding the vow that “we want to see Lytton rebuilt and rebuilt quickly,” the provincial bureaucracy has contributed to major delays. Others were attributed to the destruction of village records, supply chain issues and the havoc caused on local highways and bridges by record floods in the fall of 2021.

Read More

Time for mass timber and prefab? B.C. eyes changes to ‘bias’ in building code

By Penny Daflos
CTV News
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The provincial government in BC is looking at ways to bring housing online faster and more sustainably. Prefabrication and mass timber construction make up only a small portion of the housing built in the province and the housing minister sees regulations ripe for change to make them a more attractive option for builders. “It means you can get projects done at double the speed of traditional methods,” said Ravi Kahlon of pre-fab construction. “We (also) need to look at the building code to find ways to make the ability to use mass timber in housing much more smooth. We know there’s a bias against mass timber in the building code.” …In B.C., houses and townhomes are essentially built from scratch on-site but in much of the world panels are pre-fabricated more efficiently in warehouses and assembled on-site.

Read More

British Columbia government seeks input on building code updates

By Ministry of Housing
Government of British Columbia
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

People will get a say in how future buildings are constructed in B.C. … as the Province launches a survey on proposed changes to the BC Building Code. …The proposed changes to the BC Building Code are based on the 2020 National Model Codes with some B.C.-specific variations to reflect the province’s geography, climate, local government needs, industry practices and provincial priorities, such as accessibility. A four-week public review invites interested parties to comment on proposed building code changes, including … mass timber construction and earthquake design… People can learn about the proposed changes and provide feedback through an online survey. The Province anticipates adopting the updated BC Building Code this year and bringing it into force in December 2023. The transition period will give local governments, the construction industry, education providers and others governed by the code time to adjust their practices and training materials.

Read More

Global gathering of forestry innovators coming to Vancouver in June

BC Ministry of Forests
Government of British Columbia
May 23, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

In partnership with the University of British Columbia, Foresight Canada and FPInnovations, the Province of BC will host keynote speakers from international and B.C. organizations on topics such as sustainability, Indigenous leadership and future opportunities in the forest bioeconomy. The Forest Innovation and Bioeconomy Conference (FIBC) will take place in Vancouver from June 19-21, 2023. …The forest bioeconomy is a part of B.C.’s forestry sector and is estimated to create approximately 17,000 new direct and indirect jobs by 2030. B.C.’s bioeconomy uses wood such as bark and branches to make new, innovative products such as textiles, wood-based graphite for electric cars, alternatives to plastic packaging and much more. By 2030, the global market for forest bioproducts is estimated to reach $670 billion. 

Read More

Quesnel forest industry is hitting below the bark

By Frank Peebles
The Quesnel Cariboo Observer
May 20, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

If California has its Silicone Valley built on a concentration of tech products, the Quesnel Future of Forestry Think Tank (FFTT) asked why the Cariboo couldn’t be the wood equivalent? …Matyas Kosa is the byproducts lead for West Fraser and is in the thick of those activities. …Kosa explained that Amallin is in the test phase of being an ingredient in asphalt, but most commonly it is in use already as a plywood glue. “I’m happy to report we are on track to fully commercialize it. In fact, we’re pretty much there.” …It takes a company like West Fraser, with large-scale wood inventories, a variety of applications already underway, and the financial resources to invest in the research. Where the science gets done will inevitably be in a number of places, but… “We would like to scale up, here in Quesnel, eventually,” he said.

Read More

2023 Global Buyers Mission Update: Exhibitor Registration Now Open!

Wood Connections Newsletter
BC Wood Specialties Group
May 18, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Annual GBM is approaching, and we are happy to announce that this September 7th to 9th, we will invite international buyers and specifiers to meet our Canadian suppliers in Whistler, to celebrate our 20th Anniversary!  As most of the world is back to traveling safely, we expect many new Buyers this year, and with the help of our overseas staff, the continued assistance of the federal International Trade Commissioner Service and the provincial Trade & Investment Representatives abroad, we expect a good showing from across the globe. As usual, we can’t just do one thing at a time, so along with the GBM Trade Event, we will host BC Wood’s AGM, deliver WoodTALKS at the GBM – this year featuring the Mass & Heavy Timber Symposium – and the Building Connections program. All these activities are designed to expand our Canadian wood products industry’s international business opportunities.

Read More

Aragon launches Timber House, North America’s largest residential CLT project

By Larry Adams
The Woodworking Network
May 9, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

NEW WESTMINSTER, BC — Aragon has launched Timber House, what it calls North America’s largest residential CLT project in New Westminster, B.C. Kalesnikoff, a Canadian CLT company will provide the material for the project. While the Ascent building in Milwaukee — a hybrid concrete and timber builing — was designated in 2022 by the Council on Tall Buildings as the tallest timber building at 284 feet, Aragon says its 77-unit Timber House residential project is the largest in North America when considering the issue in terms of “most amount of exposed CLT in the interior of any residential project in North America.” …Kalesnikoff offers a mass timber kit-of-parts solution that could be fabricated off-site and installed on-site that the company says provides “complete efficiency.” Kalesnikoff said its CLT materials are shipped and off-loaded on-site in sequence, which is critical for quick and efficient installation that minimizes time and labor costs, the company says. 

Read More

Western Retail Lumber Association Launches ‘Let’s Go Build’ Recruitment Campaign

By Western Retail Lumber Association Inc
Cision Newswire
May 10, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

WINNIPEG, MB – ‘Let’s Go Build’ is an invitation by the Western Retail Lumber Association’s 1100+ member organizations to future employees. The lumber, building materials and hardgoods industry offers opportunity, growth, stability, and work-life balance and believes in investing in and elevating its people. The ‘Let’s Go Build’ recruitment campaign brings together job opportunities from members based in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Northwest Ontario, Yukon, and Nunavut. The industry is committed to increasing awareness of the opportunities and benefits a career in the industry offers among traditional and non-traditional audiences. The ‘Let’s Go Build’ website is a dedicated hub that will address job seekers’ queries about these industries and clear misperceptions. It will bridge the gap between employers and employees; the ‘Build Your Career’ page will list job openings at the 1100+ member organizations and will be continually updated.

Read More

Industry professionals get to the root of timber building through two-day course

By Angela Gismondi
Daily Commercial News
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada East

A recent mass timber course provided industry professionals with practical and theoretical concepts as well as hands-on installations into the various stages of this specialized type of construction. The two-day course, titled Theory in Practice: The Phases of Timber Construction Using a Full-Scale Model, was presented by Rothoblaas, a global player in mass timber that started over 30 years ago Trento, Italy, in collaboration with the Carpenters’ Regional Council and the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades. The training was held in Vaughan, Ont. and was part of the training collaboration Rothoschool on Tour! …The company creates solutions for the heavy and mass timber, energy efficient, net-zero and other better building practice sectors and offer a range of products including fasteners and connectors, building envelope and acoustic solutions, worker safety and tools. The agenda for the session provided detailed information on what needs to be considered when building with timber.

Read More

Quebec sets out plan to reach 60 per cent of greenhouse gas reduction target by 2030

Canadian Press in the National Post
May 19, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

François Legault

MONTREAL — The Quebec government has now mapped out how it will achieve 60 per cent of its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, Premier François Legault said Friday as he announced an updated green economy plan. …The plan also includes $1 billion to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings, which are responsible for almost 10 per cent of the province’s greenhouse gas emissions. About $215 million of that money will help fund projects for thermal waste treatment — methods that transform waste into energy that can be used for such things as heating. Legault said the government plans to create a rating system to assess the energy performance of large buildings. Patrick Bonin, a climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace Canada, said Quebec is coasting on the fact that most of its electricity comes from renewable sources and argued the plan doesn’t go far enough.

Read More

Indigenous knowledge centre acclaimed for wood use

Northern Ontario Business
May 9, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig Anishinabek Discovery Centre in Sault Ste. Marie has won an industry award for the use of wood in its design. Ontario Wood WORKS! selected the educational centre as one of nine award recipients during the annual general meeting of the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA), which was held May 2 in Toronto. Awards are given to people and organizations that promote the use of wood in construction, through design, advocacy and innovation. “It is a privilege to recognize Ontario’s wood design leaders through our Wood Design Awards program,” said Steven Street, executive director of Ontario Wood WORKS!, in a news release.

Read More

Registration opens for Woodworking Machinery & Supply Conference, Canada’s national woodworking event

By Rich Christianson
The Woodworking Network
May 8, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – Registration for the first Woodworking Machinery & Supply Conference & Expo in four years is now open. Canada’s national industrial woodworking show returns Nov. 2-4 to the International Centre. The event was last held in 2019. The 2021 edition of the show was cancelled due to the Covid-19. “We are obviously thrilled to be organizing WMS with the pandemic far back in the rearview mirror,” said Harry Urban, show manager. “As we have seen from the response to other industry events that have taken place since the wain of Covid, professional woodworkers are eager to get back to seeing live demonstrations of machinery, and software; sampling new hardware and other supplies; and meeting with vendors and their peers face to face.” The program will be augmented by WMS Live, a free conference program right on the show floor.

Read More

Flashy Features Emerge as Timber-Framed Limberlost Place Rises on Queens Quay

By Matias Bessai
Urban Toronto
May 8, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

Over the last decade, Toronto’s East Bayfront community has been the focal point of a drastic waterfront revitalization effort. …George Brown College’s highly-anticipated, net-zero Limberlost Place, is coming to life. Designed by Moriyama & Teshima and Acton Ostry Architects, the mass timber-build has grown into a hive of activity above Queens Quay East. The building now enjoys seven complete floors, with timber columns already in place for the eighth. Slated to stand ten storeys in its entirety, this puts the building at about 75% completion structurally, however, with the vaulted roof design planned for the uppermost floor, the final level could prove to be the most technical of them all. …the installation of a timber-built pedestrian bridge will provide an enclosed connection between Limberlost Place and George Brown College. 

Read More

Innovative construction is getting codes to match

By Leah Draffen
Builder Online
May 25, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

In the realm of off-site and modular construction, knowledge of building codes and standards can understandably be confusing. How does an inspector confirm proper compliance when completed modules arrive on-site? What’s inside those walls or panels? That’s where the International Code Council (ICC) steps in, creating clear guidelines for the bustling and hopeful building sector. “Codes are not scary things that keep us in the past,” says Ryan Colker, ICC vice president of innovation. …Colker identifies emerging issues in the industry as well as how new construction technologies can modernize building regulations. He also works on solutions in energy efficiency, sustainability, and decarbonization—all which mesh closely with off-site and modular construction. Currently, Colker is seeing many new products in the sustainability front, including bio-based materials and a greater shift toward off-site construction to overcome labor shortages by limiting workforce needs.

Read More

Wood vs. plastic: Which pallets are more sustainable?

By Katie Pyzyk
Supply Chain Dive
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Suppliers of wood and plastic pallets both heavily promote their respective sustainability attributes, raising the question whether only one can claim top honors. …Peerless Research Group’s 2022 Pallet Market Evaluation, its 12th annual study, showed that 95% of responding companies use wood pallets and about one-third use plastic. …More pallet companies are marketing their products’ sustainability, regardless of substrate, in alignment with the increased attention to ESG practices. …Penn State’s Judd Michael has worked with Chuck Ray on pallet research studies. A 2020 study on which Ray was the primary author examined the life-cycle assessments of treated wood and plastic pallets used by the grocery industry, noting environmental impacts from emissions and resources consumed. The researchers looked at nine impact categories, including non-renewable energy use, ozone layer depletion, aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. …The study concluded that wood pallets had a slight edge on plastic in terms of sustainability, namely the overall carbon footprint. 

Read More

Federal Aviation Administration selects innovative design for greener airport control towers across U.S.

The Construction Specifier
May 23, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a visually striking, sustainable design for new air traffic control towers, to replace the existing outdated towers at more than 100 municipal and regional airports across the U.S. The design by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) of New York meets key sustainability requirements and can adjust to the tower height to meet each airport’s traffic and sightline requirements, while reducing construction and operational costs. According to the firm, it has developed a new generation of air traffic control towers with an adaptable and sustainable design. Inspired by the Chinese American architect, I.M. Pei’s iconic mid-century towers… The new air traffic control towers are designed to accommodate different structural systems, ranging from 19.2 to 36.3 m (63 to 119 ft), and utilize a combination of precast concrete and sustainable cross-laminated timber (CLT) for floors and walls. 

Read More

Mass-Timber Exhibition in Chicago Barks Up the Right Tree

By James Gauer
Architectural Record
May 9, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Wood is a renewable resource and therefore has sustainable attributes. As trees grow, they capture CO2, a primary cause of climate change. The production of concrete and steel, on the other hand, releases vast quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere. It follows that using sustainably produced timber as a structural material reduces the harmful environmental impact of buildings. But is minimizing the negative effects of construction the best that architects can do? According to REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood, an exhibition at the Chicago Architecture Center, the answer is a resounding no. Presented by the Soft­wood Lumber Board and developed in partnership with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, this thoughtful and encyclopedic display of emerging technology and design will remain open through October 2023. Its elegant venue cannot help but remind visitors that wood is more than just an environmentally useful construction material.

Read More

Softwood Lumber Board Receives $384K Grant for Faculty Development Program

The Softwood Lumber Board
May 8, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Educators at architecture and engineering schools will benefit from matching funds granted to the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities to strengthen wood architecture and engineering education offered by accredited postsecondary schools. By providing $384,000 over the next three years, the grant ensures that the multiday faculty development workshop format piloted in 2022 by the SLB can become a series in 2023 and beyond. Each workshop focuses on the design and construction of buildings with lumber-based mass timber systems and strategies for incorporating the subject into teaching, research, and outreach. The workshop will cover ways of crafting studio courses, leveraging partnerships with adjacent disciplines, navigating institutional frameworks, and understanding forest management and material supply. Lastly, the sessions allow connection and collaboration among colleagues from different institutions, fostering the exchange of ideas and resources. …applicants must be full-time faculty at an accredited architecture or engineering school in the United States. 

Read More

Western Washington University breaks ground on carbon neutral academic building

By Elizabeth Troutman
Whatcom News
May 25, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Western Washington University in Bellingham has broken ground on a nearly $74 million electrical engineering and computer science building, the first carbon neutral academic facility in the region. Kaiser Borsari Hall is a “smart building” meant to exceed LEED standards for energy use, carbon, and other environmental indicators. …“The design of Kaiser Borsari Hall is a watershed moment for Washington state public facilities as the first all mass timber, zero-energy, and carbon neutral building on a university campus,” Anthony Gianopoulos at Perkins&Will, which designed the facility, said. The building will join a handful of other carbon neutral academic buildings in the nation. …Solar panels on the roof will generate all the 54,000-square-foot, four-story building’s electrical power, while local, sustainably harvested wood will be incorporated as part of the design to reduce the facility’s carbon footprint.

Read More

19-storey plywood tower nears completion in Oakland

By David Rogers
Global Construction Review
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

After just seven months on site, work is nearly finished on a high-rise apartment building in Oakland, California that the developer calls the “tallest beamless mass plywood panel structure in the world”. The 19-storey tower in downtown Oakland will have 222 flats, a fifth of which will be affordable. The 1510 Webster Street project was developed and designed by Oakland-based oWOW, with assistance from Californian design firm DCI Engineers. oWOW is using what it calls “a unique mass-timber construction system” that allows it to “build high-quality housing in less time and at lower costs than our competitors”. It has already built three projects in the San Francisco Bay area, and has 600 more in construction or in the pipeline. The design began about a year-and-a-half ago, ground was broken in October 2022, and construction is expected to top out by the end of June.

Read More

Oregon State, University of Oregon, Portland State, others receive National Science Foundation money

By Meerah Powell
Oregon Public Broadcasting
May 11, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Oregon’s three largest universities have each received $1 million grants from the National Science Foundation to explore ways to improve a variety of industries, ecosystems and technologies in the Pacific Northwest. The University of Oregon will use its grant to focus on the mass timber industry. The school is partnering with Oregon State University, Washington State University and more than 25 other organizations and agencies to research innovations in mass timber architecture, engineering and construction in the region. …The National Science Foundation awarded the grants as part of its “Regional Innovation Engines program” — a program created out of the CHIPS and Science Act under the Biden Administration… The new partnership hopes to look into how to grow the region’s mass timber ecosystem and explore how it can be used to increase the mass timber workforce, start and expand new businesses and create affordable housing.

Read More

First-of-Its-Kind Test to Prove Resilience of Tall Mass Timber Buildings in Seismic Events

By Think Wood
The Sacramento Bee
May 10, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

OREGON CITY, Oregon — Practical testing is underway at the University of California San Diego on the tallest building ever to be seismically tested. The building, a 10-story mass timber structure, was constructed to undergo testing as part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure TallWood Project, an industry-wide initiative to prove the seismic resilience of mass timber… supported by Think Wood, its parent organization the Softwood Lumber Board, and its partner organizations WoodWorks and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council. …The project could pave the way for changes in building codes for residential and commercial structures that could lead to more widespread adoption of mass timber. It could also validate mass timber and other innovative technologies as vehicles to help make buildings safer and more resistant to earthquake activity.

Additional coverage in ABC News: What scientists discovered after simulating an earthquake on a 10-story wood building

Read More

10 story wood building passes earthquake test

By Thomas Fudge
KPBS Marketplace
May 9, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

CALIFORNIA — The building swayed as it would have in the 1999 Jiji earthquake in Taiwan. That magnitude 7.7 quake killed more than 2,000 people. Buildings made of steel and concrete were destroyed. But the wood-framed high rise, built recently on University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Ranch shake table, showed no visible damage. “The building is fine. We don’t need repair. Maybe we need to patch some drywall but that’s about it,” said Shiling Pei, a professor of civil engineering at Colorado School of Mines, and lead investigator for the Tallwood Project. The NHERI Tall Wood Project, a 10-story test building made out of mass timber, is under construction in Scripps Ranch, Oct. 26, 2022. The Tallwood Project is a partnership between UCSD and the Colorado School of Mines, among other universities. Its test of the 10 story building is remarkable in many ways.

Additional coverage in Temblor (catastrophe modeling company specializing in seismic hazard), by Montana Denton: TallWood Project tests earthquake-resistant structure

Engineering News-Record, by Nadine Post: 10-story Mass Timber ‘Rocking’ Frame Sails Through Seismic Shake Tests

Read More

Watch the shake: mass-timber building to be tested

By Alex Jensen
Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon
May 9, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

The Tallwood project, by the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI), aims to investigate the resilience of tall timber buildings. The 10-story structure features a rocking wall system recommended for regions with high earthquake hazards.

Read More

Wood or would not? Earthquake test to study how 10-story timber building stands up to Seattle shake

By Kurt Schlosser
GeekWire
May 8, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

If the idea of a Seattle earthquake gives you the shakes, this test might be right up your alley. Researchers from the University of Washington are taking part in a project to determine how a 10-story building made entirely out of timber will perform during an earthquake simulation. The building, to be tested on Tuesday on a large shake table at the University of California San Diego, is the tallest to ever be tested in such a way.  But the location this time, theoretically, is Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. …Rather than prevent the building from moving, the rocking wall system is specially designed to rock back and forth during a seismic event. This enables the structure to snap back into its original position with minimal damage. The monthlong testing process will simulate earthquakes with increasing intensity… evaluating the performance of Cross Laminated Timber and Mass Plywood Panels.

Read More

SouthPark fire: New details, concerns emerge over type of construction used in apartments

By Gordon Rago
The Charlotte Observer
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — As investigators work to uncover the cause of last week’s deadly construction fire in SouthPark, new details are emerging about the type of construction used at the site. The 239-unit luxury apartment building had a wood-frame construction, an increasingly common style over the past decade. …Two construction workers died and 15 others had to be rescued. …While international building codes adopted by North Carolina allow for wood-frame buildings, some fire science experts worry about the style’s prevalence. …Glenn Corbett, at John Jay College in New York… said “The more wood on a project, the harder it is for firefighters to put flames out because the framing contributes to the fire. …Other experts expressed confidence in the safety of wood-frame buildings when complete, saying wood is not the enemy. They pointed, though, to the need for more early-warning notification systems to workers and first responders when fires start in buildings that are under construction.

Read More

An apartment high-rise planned for downtown Milwaukee is getting bigger–again.

By Tom Daykin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
May 24, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

An apartment high-rise planned for downtown Milwaukee is getting bigger − marking the second time its developers have expanded their proposal. The Edison was initially planned as a 15-story building with around 200 units overlooking the Milwaukee River at 1005 N. Edison St. Revised plans filed with the city in February called for a 28-story high-rise with 296 apartments. Now, The Edison’s developer, Madison-based The Neutral Project LLC, is planning a 32-story tower with around 350 apartments, said Nate Helbach, the firm’s managing partner. …The Edison would use an unusual construction technique known as mass timber, or cross-laminated timber. That process uses layers of wood pressed together to create columns, beams and other building frame components. Apartments, offices and other buildings made from timber provide a lower carbon footprint than conventional construction. They also can create a more attractive atmosphere, featuring exposed wood interiors.

Read More

Michigan State University to co-lead workshop on climate solutions through biobased products

By Kelly Kussmaul and Lauren Noel
Michigan State University
May 16, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

EAST LANSING, Michigan. – Researchers and leaders of government and industry from Finland, Michigan, Maine, Washington and other states will gather in Helsinki, Finland, on May 26, for a unique set of workshops focused on biobased forestry products. Attendees from across the United States and Europe will advance climate change solutions by considering the unique ways in which the full cycle of forestry products can facilitate carbon storage and the displacement of greenhouse gas emissions. …“This is an excellent opportunity for us to discuss and plan submission of collaborative proposals to the European Union or federal agencies in the U.S., or to form and lead industry-funded consortia,” said Mojgan Nejad, at Michigan State University. “I am very excited to facilitate a session on lignin valorization that will allow me to collaborate closely with world-renowned lignin scientists.”

Read More

New Haven affordable housing project second in country to use mass timber sustainable method

By Abigail Brone
Connecticut Public Radio
May 12, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut — Progress is underway in New Haven on the second affordable housing project in the nation to employ wood in place of steel and concrete. The 69-unit, two-building complex on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven uses mass timber, a wood product and technology that reduces the amount of CO2 emissions used during construction. …City leaders say the production of construction materials account for 10% of the global energy-related carbon pollution contributing to climate change. Unlike steel and concrete, which are commonly used and non-renewable building materials, mass timber employs wood, a renewable resource, and stores carbon in the building structure. …Using the mass-timber style costs slightly more than typical construction, but has more benefits in the long run, project architect Alan Organschi, of Gray Organschi Architecture, said.

Read More

Southern Forest Products Association May Newsletter

By Eric Gee, Executive Director
Southern Forest Products Association
May 9, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

In this edition, you’ll find: Southern Pine Record Production; New Export Leader Mexico has become the largest export market (by volume) of Southern Yellow Pine and treated lumber. Exports to Mexico have nearly doubled in the past five years. Shipments of Southern Pine lumber recorded an increase from the previous year in 2022 for the 13th consecutive year. The 2022 total was 22.16 (Bbf), a 5.5% increase over the volume shipped in 2021 (20.93 Bbf). Forest Products EXPO Update It’s hard to believe we’re closing in on the 100-day countdown to the 2023 Forest Products Machinery & Equipment EXPO in Nashville from August 23-25, but this year is already proving to be one of our best yet! We’ve already added another 1,600 square feet of exhibit space, which is closing to selling out, so secure your space today by clicking here. Registration and housing opened April 18 at sfpaexpo.com, and both are outpacing expectations so far!

Read More

Circularity Concepts in Wood Construction

UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
May 26, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

When it comes to sustainability and circularity, wood as a natural raw material has several advantages over other building materials. As a bio-based resource, it has considerable benefits concerning greenhouse gas emissions, carbon-storing, thermal insulation as well as human health and well-being compared to other construction materials. New types of wood products, being the result of extensive research, enable the extensive use of wood in tall buildings. At the same time, innovative wood products provide less manufacturing waste, low carbon-emission alternatives and store massive quantities of carbon while new technologies speed construction processes, promote energy efficiency and minimize waste. This study examines the benefits of wood as a construction material and discusses practices applied in the wood construction sector from the perspective of circularity, sustainability and climate change mitigation.

Read More

Asia’s largest mass timber building completes in Singapore

By David Rogers
Global Construction Review
May 22, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Work has finished on Toyo Ito & Associates’ “Gaia” project for the Nanyang Business School in Singapore. The zero-energy building, which is billed as Asia’s largest mass timber building, takes the form of two six-storey curving rectangles that are joined at multiple points. It consists mainly of sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber and glued laminated timber, or glulam, stiffened by a concrete core. …The interior is mainly exposed natural wood left exposed, with large windows and glazed skylights. According to NTU, Gaia’s energy-efficient design means that it will produce around 2,500 fewer tonnes of carbon a year compared with a standard building of its type and size.

Read More

Wooden satellites? Japan proves magnolia has right stuff for space

By Tatsuya Ozaki
The Nikkei Asia
May 19, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

TOKYO — A team from Kyoto University and Japanese logging company Sumitomo Forestry confirmed that wood is highly durable in orbit after a 10-month experiment on the International Space Station, paving the way for plans to launch a satellite made from wood next year. The discovery, announced by the university last week, could lead to satellites with simpler designs that are less prone to failure. A satellite made from magnolia wood will be launched next year to test viability, Kyoto University said. In March 2022, the partnership commissioned the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to test three types of wood used for furniture and other products at the International Space Station’s Kibo experiment module. The wood was placed outside the station for about 10 months to investigate whether its quality deteriorated due to temperature changes and cosmic radiation. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata assisted in the experiment.

Read More

The City of Natori Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Yuriage Reconstruction Project with a Gratitude Festival for Canada

By Shawn Lawlor
Canada Wood Group
May 15, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Shawn Lawlor

Of all the projects that I’ve had the good fortune to be a part of, the Yuriage Public Market post-tsunami reconstruction project in Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture is perhaps the most memorable. This past Golden Week marked the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Yuriage Public Market, a signature project under the Canada Tohoku Reconstruction Project humanitarian relief effort. This seaside community suffered tremendous damage and loss of life in the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake in 2011. The once-vibrant public market hub was entirely destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. Following this disaster, Canada Wood reached out to the town of Natori to see if we could assist them with rebuilding. …With the funding support of the Government of Canada, British Columbia, and Alberta, as well as Canada’s forest products industry, and thanks to the generous support of local builder Selco Homes Co., Ltd., Canada Wood built the Canada-Tohoku Friendship Pavilion

Read More

Amsterdam plans to build up to 30 modular schools from wood

By Joe Quirke
Global Construction Review
May 16, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The Circlewood consortium, a collective of architects, engineers, builders and researchers, has designed a modular building concept that will act as the basis for up to 30 schools in Amsterdam. The three-storey plug-and play system, called the HoutKern Bouwmethode, consists of standardised wooden columns and cross-laminated floors connected by recycled steel joints. Components are digitally controlled to decrease assembly times and are built on site with the help of an electric crane. …The base’s load-bearing walls enclose areas that can be used as classrooms, auditoriums and gardens. The walls themselves are made from carbon-absorbing materials and can be used to support indoor climbing and vertical farming.

Read More

Recycled plastic is a gold mine for future building materials

By John Bleasby
The Daily Commercial News
May 10, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Of the nearly 400 million tonnes of plastic waste produced annually around the world, most ends up in landfills. Only 9% is recycled, with some individual countries recycling far less than that. This massive amount of plastic waste represents a gold mine for the construction industry. A 2022 report by PwC, says the global building materials sector contributed about 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. They say increasing the use of recycled plastic in building materials could have a large environmental benefit. “Recycled plastics can support enhanced recycling and reuse of existing materials… and be a substitute for high-emissions materials such as brick or steel.” The report says acceptance of plastics as a building material has taken time, largely due to a number of misconceptions that include toxicity in the event of fire. …Europe is a world leader in its use of recycled plastics, says PwC.

Read More

This winding timber lookout tower in Budapest provides 360 degree views of a nature reserve

By Srishti Mitra
Yanko Design
May 8, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The winding and impressive Lookout Tower was designed and constructed to mark the nature reserve of Budapest and Naplás Lake. It was designed by Robert Gutowski Architects and serves as a sculptural beacon for hikers. The imposing timber structure features unique geometry and has a simple yet complex form to it. It is an open-worked sculptural mass with a sophisticated, yet playful appeal to it. It artfully arises from the ground, looking like a natural extension of the natural environment, and gently slithers and twists up to the sky, functioning as a tall and massive tower.

Read More

Is wood strong enough to make a bicycle frame?

By Sarang Sheth
Yanko Design
May 5, 2023
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

If wood is strong enough for buildings and furniture, why not use it for bicycles too? That’s pretty much the thought process that led Masateru Yasuda to design the Moccle, a bicycle that relies on the flexible yet sturdy properties of bent plywood sheets. Traditional Japanese buildings have taken advantage of wood’s flexibility and vibration-absorption properties to build structures that have survived earthquakes, Yasuda points out. “I wondered if I could make a bicycle that takes advantage of the characteristics of this wood,” he adds.

Read More