Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

McDonald’s has refurbished and turned its Tai Wo site in Hong Kong into a more sustainable place, strengthening its environmental commitment. The Tai Wo location recently became Hong Kong’s first Leed Zero Carbon restaurant, and the design is estimated to save 848.22 metric tonnes of CO2 at the restaurant, which is comparable to planting more than 36,000 16-foot-tall trees. According to the company, the outside facade is made from local trees that have fallen due to typhoons or old age, owing to a collaboration with eco-social startup HK Timberbank. The furniture and decor on the inside are produced from recycled materials. …It also includes a new collection of Happy Meal books and colouring games teaching young diners about environmental protection, from energy conservation to lowering carbon emissions.

Researchers have developed a quick and easy way to turn the wood-based bioproduct lignin into nanoparticles that can create a transparent coating with anti-fog properties or a colorful antireflective surface. The discovery transforms this abundant waste product into a useful material with diverse applications, such as on glasses and vehicle windows. …One of the barriers to using lignin is its complicated molecular structure, which makes it difficult to break down. Now, researchers from Aalto University in Finland have developed a method of turning lignin into a bio-based transparent coating with anti-fogging and antireflective properties. …The small size of the particles enabled the researchers to control layer thickness and appearance, from transparent sub-monolayers to multilayered films, which allowed them to control the color and absorbance of light at different wavelengths. 

MEXICO CITY — Local architecture studio Dellekamp Schleich has created an office building in Mexico City that it says is the country’s largest and tallest mass-timber structure to “set an example for innovative construction methods”. Called El Jardín Anatole, the 940-square-metre structure was placed in the former courtyard of a historic house in a residential neighbourhood in Mexico City. The four-storey office and retail building has a structure that consists almost completely of engineered timber derived from oak trees from the north of Mexico, except for a dramatic V-shaped steel truss at ground level and concrete used for the elevator and stairwells. In a country where concrete and stone are widely used for architecture, the studio wanted to “explore the potential of lighter construction materials”. …Mexico City is subject to earthquakes, so the studio wanted to make sure that it created a solid, flexible structure that could withstand seismic activity.

The find didn’t look like much at first – basically a log, lying crosswise over another log.  “It didn’t look particularly exciting,” says Larry Barham, professor of archaeology at the University of Liverpool. “But when you look closely and you remove the sand around it, you can see where one sits on top of the other is a notch.”  That notch suggested that the logs had been manipulated by human beings – extraordinarily ancient ones, who once frequented this site above the dramatic 772-foot Kalambo Falls in Zambia.  Later analysis of the logs would reveal telltale signs of having been cut, chopped and shaped by human tools.  …We know very little about how early humans worked with wood because so few of the artifacts survive.  … The team carefully excavated five different wood objects and set about dating them. …They found three different periods of human occupation: 476,000, 390,00 and 324,000 years ago.

KRISTIANSAND, Norway — Lumber 4 by Olso-based architectural practice Oslotre is a commercial and office building spanning six floors constructed using a composite structure of CLT and concrete, creating a slim and efficient floor system that spans long distances while also addressing fire and acoustic requirements. A recessed ground floor constitutes the commercial level, with the five floors above dedicated to office spaces. Diagonals on the ground floor facilitate better vehicular access around the building. The existing communication core from adjacent building phases contributes to lateral stability and access to the office floors. Between the third and fourth floors, an atrium with an internal staircase made of mass timber has been introduced. Wood elements are prominently displayed in the interior, providing warmth in winter and cooling in summer. The façade is composed of prefabricated curved wooden elements in pine, treated with green paint. …The insulation used throughout is wood fiber. The cladding consists of fire-treated pine.

The discovery of ancient wooden logs in the banks of a river in Zambia has changed archaeologists’ understanding of ancient human life. Researchers found evidence the wood had been used to build a structure almost half a million years ago. The findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest stone-age people built what may have been shelters. …The discovery could transform the current belief ancient humans led simple, nomadic lives. …The researchers also uncovered ancient wooden tools, including digging sticks. …Further analysis confirmed the logs were about 476,000 years old. Until now, evidence for the human use of wood has been limited to making fire and crafting tools such as digging sticks and spears. …It is also unclear what species of ancient human – or hominid – built it. The timber is much older than the earliest modern human – or Homo sapien – fossils, which are about 315,000 years old.

Products like plywood are made of veneers that are bonded together with adhesives such as urea–formaldehyde and phenol–formaldehyde resins. Researchers in academia and industry have long aimed to synthesize lignin–phenol–formaldehyde resin adhesives using biomass-derived lignin, a phenolic polymer that can be used to substitute the petroleum-derived phenol. However, lignin–phenol–formaldehyde resin adhesives are less attractive to plywood manufacturers than urea–formaldehyde and phenol–formaldehyde resins owing to their appearance and cost. Here we report a simple and practical strategy for preparing lignin-based wood adhesives from lignocellulosic biomass. Our strategy involves separation of uncondensed or slightly condensed lignins from biomass followed by direct application of a suspension of the lignin and water as an adhesive on wood veneers. Plywood products with superior performances could be prepared with such lignin adhesives at a wide range of hot-pressing temperatures, enabling the use of these adhesives as promising alternatives to traditional wood adhesives in different market segments.

Australia — Exciting ventures are on the horizon for WoodSolutions. Starting with introducing the newly appointed Head of Built Environment Programs & WoodSolutions Program lead, Kevin Peachey. Kevin was previously the Statistics and Economics Manager at Forest & Wood Products Australia and formerly worked with Australian Forest Products Association, Timber Towns Victoria, and the National Timber Councils Association. He has a great passion and understanding of wood products and is enthusiastic to lead the WoodSolutions Team. He will also continue in his role as Chair of the Resilient Timber Housing Program. Kevin is excited to announce the 6-month advisory role of Karl-Heinz Weiss, director of Weiss Insights, known for his pioneering work in engineered timber for the design and construction sectors in the UK, Europe, and Australia. They will evaluate and further develop the WoodSolutions strategy and objectives. 

[A not so convincing pitch by a recycled plastic lumber producer: Tree Frog Editor] A study found that 97% of people working in the construction industry believed air quality was an ‘important’ environmental concern. With the growing concern among workers, we need to put on a united effort to reduce the industry’s impact on the environment. Perhaps it may come as a surprise to some, but timber is not as ethical a construction material as you may think. Disadvantages to the use of timber in construction: 1. Deforestation, 2. Loss of biodiversity, 3. Increased carbon emissions. Thankfully, sustainable timber alternatives made from recycled plastics are increasingly available, offering improved durability without the need for mass deforestation – protecting the planet and even outperforming traditional timber. …Despite being a fairly new and innovative material, recycled plastic alternatives to timber are becoming increasingly popular and already being used in nature reserves, outdoor decking and seating – the possibilities for their use are always growing.

Timber Development UK (TDUK) and Structural Timber Association (STA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help grow and develop the timber construction market. Under the terms of the agreement the two parties have agreed to form a partnership in order to collaborate on technical projects to further the development of timber design and construction as well as on policy related communication matters. Timber Development UK was formed in 2022 from the merger of Timber Trade Federation and TRADA – the two oldest trade bodies in the timber sector. It forms the largest, most comprehensive supply chain body for timber in the UK with over 1200 members. With over 850 members, the Structural Timber Association is the UK’s leading organisation representing the structural timber sector and associated supply chain companies.

A stack of blocks teeters on the side of a busy road in Charlton, London, like a pile of shipping containers freshly offloaded from the nearby Thames. It is an arresting sight in this area of builders’ merchants and big box retail stores, each block thrusting out above the one below as if the whole pile might topple any minute. …“We wanted to create an eye-catching beacon,” says Michael Finlay, standing outside the new £5m Workstack.  …“Huge swathes of workspace have been lost,” says Finlay. “We feel like we’re the ones with our finger in the dyke.”  …Workstack is constructed from big sheets of cross-laminated timber (CLT), a material De Rijke has been championing since 2006, when dRMM designed a music and sports hall for Kingsdale school a few miles away. 

OSAKA, Japan — A groundbreaking ceremony took place Monday for the Japan pavilion of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Osaka’s man-made Yumeshima Island. The pavilion will serve as a venue for the government to promote the expo’s theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” as the host country and also play a diplomatic role in welcoming foreign dignitaries and other visitors. The construction of a three-story building is expected to be completed by the end of February 2025, ahead of the expo’s opening in April of that year. It will have interior and exterior walls of cross-laminated timber panels. 

Twenty buildings and fourteen furniture projects have been shortlisted for this year’s Wood Awards – which celebrate excellence and innovation in timber architecture and design. From over two hundred projects entered, this shortlist of thirty-four entries celebrates the diversity and creativity of buildings and furniture made using the world’s foremost sustainable and renewable material – wood. A seafront visitor centre, a concert hall, and an office complex are among the shortlisted buildings for the 2023 Wood Awards, while lathe-turned lamps, a table-cum-musical instrument and a community-built table set are among the furniture and product projects. The Awards are split into two main categories, Furniture & Product and Buildings. …As a not-for-profit competition, the Wood Awards can only happen with collaborative industry sponsorship. A huge thank you for continued support from Carpenters Company, American Hardwood Export Council and Timber Development UK.