Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

I’m standing in a seemingly ordinary construction site of an unremarkable office block in east London. The seven-storey building is about two-thirds complete. But… there’s an awful lot of wood. Building sites typically feature wood as the mould to pour the concrete into. But here, the wood is the concrete. …Some architects such as [Andrew] Waugh are therefore arguing for – and pressing ahead with – a return to wood as our primary building material. …Between 15% and 28% of new homes built in the UK annually use timber frame construction, capturing over one million tonnes of CO2 a year as a result. Increasing the use of timber in construction could triple that amount. …The market seems to agree. Less than five years after its arrival on US shores, there are now CLT projects underway in almost every mainland US state.

Charles Trevor (center)

American Softwoods Consultant, Charles Trevor, was interviewed by AEIM (Spanish Association of Wood Trade and Industry). …Spain is now the third largest market for U.S. softwood exports, behind Italy and the United Kingdom.  In the interview, Charles discussed sales of American Softwoods to the European Union of $26.8 million in 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 has seen $5.8 million (2018 = $5.9 million).  He also reported “Europe has the potential to grow in importance for us, particularly for sales of pressure treated wood for use in outdoor/garden applications. …He further stated, “We are optimistic that with our continuing promotional relationship, our sales will continue to increase as they have done for the past three or four years.” 

The cause of the blaze is still unknown, yet what it exposed is clear — the fragility of our most cherished building. …The weekly protests have abated… But the place of worship that 14 million tourists a year once visited remains a shuttered wreck on Paris’ Île de la Cité, and now the old divisions are beginning to gather around what comes next for the beloved building. …Where the oak roof frame known as the “forest” once was, there is now a giant cavity open to the sky. …To prevent a disaster, in early July a giant crane began hoisting 7-ton wooden frames cut to the exact specifications of the flying buttresses, to be wedged inside each arc, in order to weigh them down and stop the building from shifting. …Despite Philippe’s announcement three months ago, the government has yet to set up a structure to receive designs.

A series of educational seminars were conducted by FII India under the logo ‘Canadian Wood’ to educate potential customers of wood species from British Columbia (B.C.) about the benefits of working with wood. Conducted from 2 April to 6 June 2019 in Chennai, Kozhikode, Pune, Hyderabad and Nashik, the seminars drew more than 250 by-invite-only attendees. This comprised of architects, interior designers, solid wood manufacturers, real estate developers, builders and timber merchants. Mr Peter Bradfield, Technical Advisor, Canadian Wood, took the participants through B.C. wood species’ usage, versatility, aesthetics and environment-friendly credentials. The 2-hour programme helped users understand the wood’s applications in interior, outdoors and structural.

More than 100 more tower blocks must be urgently stripped of combustible cladding panels in a significant widening of the fire safety crisis since the Grenfell Tower disaster. High-pressure laminate (HPL) panels, often made from compressed wood and paper and used to produce colourful patterns on new buildings, should be removed “as soon as possible” from housing taller than 18 metres, the government’s expert panel on fire safety demanded on Thursday. The order could affect thousands of tenants and leaseholders who previously believed their homes were safe. Industry experts believe at least 100 residential tower blocks will be affected. Delays to safety reforms ‘risk a repeat of Grenfell disaster’

A Paris firefighter spoke about the desperate battle against blaze roaring through the centuries-old cathedral, from feeling “powerless” to realizing what strategy the firefighters should take to stop the iconic building from collapsing. Master Corporal Myriam Chudzinski, told The New York Times that she and other fighters were in the cathedral when its famous, 750-ton spire collapsed. …Her team travelled to the cathedral’s attic, where the fire was ravaging the ancient wooden construction, and were forced to come back down as the fire raged and wood began to fall to the cathedral’s floor. But the team had noticed something about the fire’s direction that gave them a new strategy, and ultimately saved the cathedral from collapse. This new plan required the firefighters to let the roof burn and focus their efforts on saving the northern tower, which they felt would take down the rest of the cathedral if it fell. 

In search of sustainable methods of construction, Swedish construction company, Folkhem, is building on a vision of the future of wood in construction. …However, concrete is by far South Africa’s most popular building material. …With the reality of climate change some in the construction business are looking to more sustainable solutions. Swedish property developers, Folkhem and Swedish architect firm, Wingårdhs, are on a mission to expand possibilities of wood in construction …Trees, being made of carbon-based compounds, absorb and store carbon dioxide from the air, therefore reducing the amount in the atmosphere. According to Folkhem, their eight-storey development has total carbon emissions of “minus 1 000 tonnes”. …The wood is also treated to be fireproof… While steel reinforcements can be broken down by heat resulting in collapse, the fireproofed wood is much more likely to withstand the fire. …”we can build houses forever, as long as we take care of the forest,” adds Folkhem CEO

Istanbul-based design studio SUPERSPACE has proposed a new landmark for Croatia’s capital of Zagreb that combines an architecturally striking observation tower with a vertical forest in the heart of the city. Dubbed Ascension, the timber structure would serve as a “new gate” between the historic parts of the city and the post-war areas. If built, the tower would be the 10th tallest building in all of Zagreb and one of the tallest wooden structures in Europe. …The Ascension tower features three main parts: a white and convex outer “shell” that symbolizes the revitalization of the new city; a timber-lined inner “shell” that symbolizes the identity of the old city; and a vertical forest of trees planted on multiple levels of the high-rise to create a visual link to Zagreb’s forested landscape. 

In recent years, scientists have created shape-shifting materials that twist and bend when exposed to certain stimuli, such as moisture or heat. …Now, scientists from the Institute for Computational Design and Construction at the University of Stuttgart have figured out a way to bring these same properties to … wood. …The team of researchers working on the project have created a 46-foot tall twisted tower made of wood to demonstrate their technique. The tower is comprised of 12 wooden components, which were made by laminating two pieces of wood using different levels of moisture. The laminated pieces of wood were then dried out, which caused the material to curve naturally without the need for braces or molds. The technique could be used to create bar furniture, living room tables and virtually any other piece of wooden furniture. While challenges lie ahead, the new technique could lead to more environmentally-friendly, economical buildings in the future.

CHICAGO, IL – Environmental claims such as “go green – go paperless” and “save trees” are regularly used by banks, telecoms, utilities, insurance companies and many other service providers, as they encourage their customers to switch from paper to lower cost electronic bills and statements.  However, a Two Sides global anti-greenwash campaign operating since 2010 has found that the majority of these claims are unsubstantiated and misleading. To date, Two Sides has successfully engaged with 441 companies worldwide to remove or change such claims about print and paper.  Sectors showing the highest occurrence of greenwashing include telecom providers, banks and financial institutions, utility providers and governmental organizations. In North America, 120 companies, including many of the Fortune 500, have changed or removed their environmental claims following discussions with Two Sides.

Featuring a combination of coconut husk, mango stones and corn stover, the CO2-neutral briquettes are formulated from entirely natural ingredients which would otherwise go to waste. They are odourless, free from chemicals and offer a clean burn with low smoke and a longer burn time than conventional wood charcoal. The bagged briquettes also have a longer, hotter burn, with an average burn time of five hours when used in a smoker or kettle barbecue. Paul Keighley, managing director of Bar-Be-Quick, said: “We pride ourselves on being an environmentally-minded business – we were the first UK charcoal supplier to be awarded Forest Stewardship Council certification –by offering the Wood Free Briquettes, we are taking one step further into offering sustainable products. “The briquettes are created using materials that otherwise would have gone to waste.”

Toilet paper – the one product that the majority of us use just once and flush away – is becoming less sustainable, according to research. Analysis from Ethical Consumer magazine found that major brands were using less recycled paper than in 2011, while only five of the nine major supermarkets (the Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose) offered an own-brand recycled toilet paper. The large-scale use of virgin paper contributes to unnecessary deforestation. The UK uses 1.3m tonnes of tissue a year, according to the Confederation of Paper Industries, with the average British consumer reportedly getting through 127 rolls every year. But the growing trend for “luxury” four-ply and quilted toilet roll is fuelling the use of virgin pulp in an effort to create the softest product, the study claims. “There is no need to cut down forests to make toilet roll, yet this is precisely what is happening,” said Alex Crumbie, a researcher for Ethical Consumer.