Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Timber can be a beautiful, living building material. Species like spotted gum, teak… are prized for things like construction, furniture, sculpture and decking. But Interpol estimates that up to 10 per cent, or $800 million worth of timber coming into Australia each year comes from sources classified as “high risk” for illegal logging. And badly managed timber operations in Australia are destroying critical habitat for species like the Leadbeater’s possum. …So should we be using timber at all, or is it doing more harm than good? …New South Wales Timber estimates that the average timber house frame in that state sequesters about 7.5 tonnes of CO2.

NORWAY – Various Norwegian architecture groups designed a cross-laminated timber (CLT) cabin that was put together by volunteers over 1,500 hours. After finding and mapping out a suitable site in 3D using a drone and photogrammetry software, architects designed 77 unique CLT panels that would be assembled on site like a 3D puzzle. Designers then tested the cabin by simulating wind conditions and arctic storms in an artificial setting. 3D printing was utilized to test how the panels would fit together, reports designboom. …The cabin is very minimalist – featuring just a wood burning stove, nominal seating, fireplace, and a window. It exists for hikers trekking through the cold town of Hammerfest, Norway. A second cabin is in the works.

Franziska Grüneberger – researcher in the laboratory for applied wood materials has achieved her goal … fireproof insulating material – a big step to save fossil fuels. …The secret lies in what the recycled paper fiber cube doesn’t do: crumble. This very property is important to offer long-term protection against fire for load-bearing elements on timber houses. Precisely this firmness, however, is hard to achieve in the industrial production of insulating layers. “We’re not dealing with insulating mats here, which workers have to cut to size and shape and slot into the components,” explains Grüneberger. “Instead, the recycled paper fibers are automatically blown into a cavity until it is filled completely.” …By isofloc’s reckoning, the new insulation will hit the market… in around a year’s time. Mountains of waste paper will then be turned into a valuable insulating material … as the only loose insulating material on the market, it can also be used industrially for effective fireproofing. 

A new glue laminated tmber (GLT) production plant is to be built in Maryborough, Queensland.  Hyne Timber’s CEO, Jon Kleinschmidt says the new building will be constructed using the company’s own GLT products, manufactured at their existing plant in Maryborough. “Further, Hyne Timber remains committed to using Queensland products and services throughout delivery of this construction project with a priority on Fraser Coast businesses where possible. “Every part of this development will celebrate and showcase Queensland businesses and skills as so many businesses and people have supported us over our 137 years of operations,” Kleinschmidt says. Hyne Timber’s GLT sales manager, John Hesse says the company has been experiencing an increase in both enquiries and demand for GLT as consumers search for sustainable building solutions.

A sustainable community centre in Penrith, Sydney has been recognised for its sustainable building practices and innovative green design. Equipped with a 20kW PV solar system, geothermal heating and cooling and water-efficient fittings, the Jordan Springs Community Hub recently won the Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Award. Built in partnership with Lendlease, the centre is the first in NSW to be built from cross-laminated timber. It also utilises a geothermal heating and cooling system that is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent, leading to a reduction of 37 tonnes of CO2 each year. According to the Penrith City Council, the heating system is so effective that the cost to install it will be paid off through savings in under 10 years.

Tzannes and Lendlease have designed a multi-purpose building constructed from cross laminated timber (CLT) for the UNSW’s main campus in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. UNSW D14 Building by Tzannes and Lendlease. Image:  Tzannes, Lendlease. The collaboration is the latest in a string of large engineered timber buildings Tzannes has designed for developer Lendlease, including International House Sydney in Barangaroo, the Australia’s first engineered timber commercial building and winner of the National Award for Commercial Architecture at the 2018 National Architecture Awards, as well as a planned adjacent “sister” building. The seven-storey D14 Academic Building will replace the existing UNSW Hall Building, built in 1959. …In a design report produced as part of the application, the architects said the premise of the design was to celebrate “timber as the hero through simplicity, efficiency and clarity in expression. 

Kengo Kuma’s $1.4 billion National Stadium is over 25 percent complete and should open in November 2019 for six months of testing before the Tokyo 2020Summer Olympics kickoff. …Kuma has pledged that the stadium will source over 70,000 cubic feet of larch and cedar wood from nearly all of Japan’s 47 prefectures, with an emphasis on areas hit hardest by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The steel roof over the ovoid stadium will be supported by a lattice of exposed timber beams and joists. …It’s not all smooth sailing  …as the U.S.-based Rainforest Action Network has accused the group of sourcing endangered tropical timber from Malaysia and Indonesia to build the 2020 stadiums. A Tokyo 2020 spokesman has denied the claims, but the commission is working to further tighten up its sourcing standards regardless.

“What,” asks Sydney architect James Fitzpatrick, “has our generation added to new technology and ways of building?” Since the 1970s, argues the founder of Fitzpatrick + Partners, “nothing substantial has been added to the architectural oeuvre. “But suddenly there is a technology and material that is of our time. So what we will leave, I think, will be engineered timber construction”. With several Fitzpatrick-authored CLT buildings already up and with a decade-deep investment in researching the scope of the various engineered timber products, Fitzpatrick is a passionate promoter of a sustainable and beautiful building material that has, to this point, been largely sourced from Europe. But courtesy of two new Australian-based manufacturing plants – one that commenced construction on Thursday, January 17, in Maryborough, Queensland – by the end of the year Australia should be able to supply its own needs for what is already termed “the GLT (Glue Laminated) Revolution”.

SHANDONG, East China — Even when Europeans buy certified sustainable wood, the environment pays the price. …[In] the factory of Shandong Xingang Group in the city of Linyi, few employees wear masks, despite signs saying they are required. Throughout the hall lie boxes adorned with tree-shaped logos, which should mean that the wood inside is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to have been produced under good labor conditions and come from sustainable forests. But like so much timber that passes through China, their sourcing is unclear and likely anything but sustainable. “These are poplar and eucalyptus cores, but they’re not FSC-accredited,” a company manager explained, standing in front of a box sporting the FSC logo. “Everyone does it. We’re just following suit because of the market.” …However, an investigation by Sixth Tone shows that, in China, the logo has become… a tool for “greenwashing” — allowing illegally harvested timber to …enter global markets.

Scientists at Empa have used cellulose to 3D print an ear. …The cellulose that the scientists used to 3D print the ear comes from wood. The researchers are currently equipping cellulose with additional functionalities to 3D print implants for cartilage diseases. …Michael Hausmann, an Empa researcher, removes an object with a human ear shape from the 3D printer, and then explains: “In viscous state cellulose nanocrystals can easily be shaped together with other biopolymers into complex 3-dimensional structures using a 3D printer, such as the Bioplotter.” …At this point, the 3D printed ear is completely and solely made of a biopolymer and cellulose nanocrystals. However, the goal is to incorporate both therapeutic and human cells into the base structure in order to create biomedical implants. A new study is underway to find out how to integrate chondrocytes into the scaffold to yield cartilage tissue.

KOTA KINABALU: Research has found that cross laminated timber (CLT) could be the future of the wood and building industry in Sabah; although it appears there is a mountain to climb before proponents see a wooden skyline in the state. The eight-month joint research between a team of University Malaysia Sabah wood technology and industry final year students and Sapulut Forest Development Sdn Bhd has shown promising results to suggest that tall buildings can be built using timber. CLT however is not a new concept for it has been used in other countries, most notably in Vancouver, Canada, where the world’s tallest building with a timber structure, Brock Commons Tallwood House, is standing at the height of 53 metres.
Closer to home is Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. It will be Asia’s largest wooden building when completed.

UK — The number of construction-site fires is soaring – but data gaps and reporting issues stand in the way of tackling the problem. Home Office construction-fire statistics indicate a 43 per cent rise in deliberately caused fires between 2015-17; this is a significant cause for concern for the sector. …We simply do not have the data for all near-misses and small fires, which is preventing us from understanding their root causes. We are unable to fully grasp the factors that influence the rate of fire-incident growth, which is preventing the industry from putting in place mitigation measures. …The subject of construction-site fires has been much debated since an alarming number of significant construction fires took place between 1970-80, and then again following a spate of significant timber-frame construction fires during the 1990s. [to access the full story, a subscription may be required]