Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Philip Vivian

We talk with Bates Smart director Philip Vivian on the sustainable benefits of timber architecture, the urgent need for urban densification, building for the long term, affordable housing and automation in design. …Why is timber making a comeback and where do you see it becoming central to construction? …I think the comeback now is really about sustainability; we’re saying timber sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, so it’s helping us tackle the issue of climate change. Not only is it sequestering carbon, but it’s also replacing other materials that have high embodied carbon. …What are the positives of a timber frame building from a design perspective? …The idea of a warm natural material with natural finishes is very alluring for an architect; it’s also a material where you can expose structure. The interesting thing is timber is really cost neutral with traditional construction at the moment.

Woodworking machines are largely adopted in countries, such as the U.S., China and Germany to deliver highly precise and quality products as per customer needs. These machines largely help manufacturers reduce wastage of wood and thereby, improve their profitability margin. Moreover, the increasing focus of customers to replace old furniture to rehabilitate their office and house is expected to drive growth of the global woodworking machines market. Additionally, the shifting focus of furniture manufactured using conventional tools to furniture manufactured using automatic machines is further projected to escalate the demand of woodworking machines in near future. Based on operating principle, mechanical woodworking machines are expected to dominate the market. However, electric machines are anticipated to witness significant growth in near future, owing to increasing preference of smart machines in countries, such as the U.S., Europe and India.

Construction of Hyne Timber’s new Glue Laminated Timber (GLT) production plant is now underway in Maryborough with Badge Construction.  The building’s structure will be made up of the company’s own GLT, demonstrating their capability, backed by over 40 years of GLT manufacturing experience. Cross Laminated Timber from Australian supplier, XLam will also make up some of the internal building and the internal stairs. Robert Mansell, Hyne Timber’s Business Development Manager, Commercial said construction of the new plant represents innovative, sustainable and quality construction. “We know plantation pine is completely renewable but it is always refreshing to learn just how quickly a construction project’s volume of timber will grow back based on Australia’s plantation footprint. “The volume of timber being used for this new construction project will grow back in under 8 minutes. Now that’s renewable!” 

UPM collaborates with leading research organizations and small to medium sized companies in order to create a new ecosystem and novel wood-based innovations for the biomedical sector. The sector faces a growing need for products sourced from natural materials that are free from animal-derived components as they offer many advantages over currently used materials. UPM has been active in biomedicals for many years and has already commercialized GrowDex® nanocellulose product for cell culture. …Wood as a raw material in the biomedicals area has many attractive qualities and UPM is looking to expand its portfolio further. …Public funding from Business Finland enables joining forces with other key partners operating in this area.

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) in a consortium with a strategic partner LUT University (Finland) and the industrial partner Scientific and Technological Centre of Applied Nanotechnologies will build infrastructure elements from a hybrid wood-based material. The project “Lightweight hybrid wooden composite materials for sustainable construction technology” (SUSTECH) was awarded in the second call of South-East Finland – Russia Cross-Border Cooperation Program 2014-2020. In the framework of the project, researchers plan to create a hybrid wooden composite with advanced properties.

Together with BRUAG Fire Protection AG, Empa specialists have developed a new flame retardant for wood and wood-based materials. The colourless additive, which can be easily mixed with coatings and cellulose materials, opens up new applications for wood processing companies. Fire protection requirements are increasing worldwide – especially in public buildings and vehicle construction. This development means that more and more otherwise suitable materials such as wood can no longer be used in many buildings or means of transport and must be substituted by other products.  …The new flame retardant called AFA (Anti-Flame-Additive) meets these requirements: It is colorless and can be mixed with water-based paints or UV protective coatings and can be used not only as a coating but also as an additive in wood-based panels. 

Certification of bamboo products under FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification scheme emerged as the highlight of the discussion that took place at the two-day International Conference on Bamboo Composites in Bengaluru earlier this week. Several speakers spoke of the need for setting up a mechanism for the same, if India were to emerge as a competitor to China in the world market. …The need for FSC certification for bamboo products is felt nowhere more urgently than in the eight North-eastern states which together produce two-thirds of India’s bamboo but have not witnessed progress of the material in the value chain. Maharaj K. Muthoo, a former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer who now heads the Roman Forum, Italy, said though certification was initiated by certifying bamboo baskets and some items of bamboo furniture 15 years ago, the pace had slackened and no headway has been made during the first National Bamboo Mission.

LONDON — CF Møller is rethinking the use of engineered timber for its scheme to replace Robin Hood Gardens following the government’s ban on combustible cladding materials for tall buildings. …Early designs for the 330-home scheme, half of which will be affordable, have been designed in outline using cross-laminated timber construction. …The new legislation, which came into effect last December, prohibits all materials with a European fire rating of less than A1 or A2 on residential blocks, schools, care homes and hospitals above 18m in height. …Asked about the wider implications of the ban, Pearce said: ’We think it’s unfortunate, as we believe that CLT performs really well under fire load and it got caught by a ban that wasn’t specifically targeting CLT as a material.’

The market for environmentally sound building materials is changing. If you think bamboo can just be used to grow beans up in your garden, think again. Pandas aren’t the only animals that like bamboo – builders are making it popular too, as an alternative to hardwood panels. This is because the panels offer superior quality, they’re easy to install and have very low toxicity because they don’t use much glue. …Thermally modified wood is another product gaining in popularity, again because of its greater longevity than traditional products. …The same is true of acetylated and polymer modified timber. …While not yet hitting the mainstream, hempcrete and ashcrete are also becoming more commonly used, at least in Europe and North America… There is also a rising awareness of and therefore a demand for the use of recycled building materials by contractors.