Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Henkel and Covestro are cooperating to promote the sustainability of adhesives in timber construction. Covestro provides polyurethane-based materials based on bio-attributed raw materials, which are used by Henkel for high-performance adhesive solutions. The German chemical companies Henkel and Covestro are joining forces to promote the sustainability of adhesives in load-bearing timber construction. Such elements, such as cross-laminated timber or glulam, can be found in a variety of interior and exterior building applications, from stairs to facades and load-bearing components. For this purpose, Covestro Henkel provides polyurethane-based materials. These are based on bio-attributed raw materials that are assigned using mass balancing. Henkel then uses these for high-performance adhesive solutions.

While many people have an affinity for wood furniture and interior spaces, few of us realize the extent to which wood can tangibly affect our mental health and wellbeing. But according to a scientific study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, this effect is measurable and significant. Fifty volunteers were observed in the wooden waiting room at the National Oncology Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia before and after their stays in the waiting room, via heart rate, respiration activity, and blood pressure. According to the study, the effects of spending time in the wooden waiting room were overwhelmingly positive. “The usage of wooden materials verifies their regenerative and positive impact on the nervous system, through the appealing aesthetics (color, texture, and structures), high contact comfort, pleasant smell, possibility to regulate air humidity, volatile organic compound emissions, and acoustic well-being in the space”.

Andrew Dunn

Calling all architects, engineers, developers, and building designers to join veteran tour leader and timber expert Andrew Dunn on an immersive journey to the heart of European mass timber manufacturing and construction. Sunday, 26 May to Saturday, 1 June 2024. Over six days of insightful and engaging travel from Vienna, Austria to Milan, Italy by luxury coach, the tour group will visit pioneering factories, facilities, and projects spotlighting CLT, glulam, and other leading-edge timber technologies up close. You will be staying in hotels and accommodation built from wood that showcase clever architecture and interior design. Network with local builders, engineers, and product specialists who are advancing renewable timber’s future across Europe’s built landscape. This is your opportunity to step inside the origins and learn about the future of mass timber building. Witness first-hand how European innovation is driving a modern, sustainable construction revolution using one of the world’s oldest natural materials.

Wood may be viewed as a more old-fashioned type of building material, but wood skyscrapers may actually be the buildings of the future. And now, one renowned Japanese construction company has recently completed a fully wood-framed tower near Tokyo, as Bloomberg reported. Obayashi Corp. completed Port Plus, a training and education facility in Yokohama using a technique called mass-timber construction, which uses thick, compressed layers of wood that create strong, structural load-bearing elements that rival materials like steel and concrete, according to the information platform naturally:wood. Unlike steel and concrete, though, wood is a much more planet-friendly building material. Per Bloomberg, Obayashi estimates that building Port Plus generated the equivalent of about 2,500 metric tons (more than 2,750 tons) of carbon dioxide, whereas making the same building out of steel would have resulted in 4,200 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The same building made out of concrete would have generated 8,600 tons.

BRAZIL — Mass timber is an innovative construction solution that is gaining prominence worldwide due to its sustainability and technological benefits. In 2020, the opening of the first Dengo concept store, located in São Paulo, marked the debut of the brand’s first interactive factory and the pioneering use of CLT in a high-rise building in Brazil. Developed by architecture firm Matheus Farah and Manoel Maia, the project faced several challenges precisely because of its use of this new technology, which was just beginning to emerge in the construction sector. The choice of CLT as the project’s main building material reflects a commitment to sustainability and to reducing its environmental impact, as it helps mitigate carbon in the atmosphere. In addition, its use allows for cleaner, lighter, and faster construction compared to traditional building methods. 

WorkStack, located off a busy road in Charlton, is one of a series of innovative timber buildings by dRMM across multiple sectors, exploring different structures at different scales. …The design answers a growing need for industrial capacity while challenging generic steel ‘tin shed’ light industrial architecture. Many London boroughs have reallocated industrial land, which inevitably becomes residential, forcing production away from city centres. …Built to be affordable to rent, operate and maintain, these workshops answer GEB’s brief to provide flexible, practical and inspirational workspace. …It is a cross-laminated timber structure, with limited steel, polycarbonate, glass and rubber introduced where required for functional purposes. Each building element is designed to be as efficient as possible – a legible, direct design without excess.

Henning Larsen has won a competition for the design of a campus building at CERN. Designed in collaboration with local architects Brière Architectes, the timber building and landscape are designed to be “immersed in nature, with biogenic materials and low-carbon design prioritized to generate community, collaboration, and wellbeing.” Located on CERN’s Prévessin Campus on the French side of the France-Switzerland border, the proposed B777 building comprises a circular design with a sheltered courtyard in the center. Inside, the building will contain office, laboratory, and workshop spaces.

The Irish property investor and developer Iput has secured planning permission to deliver an additional 12 units at Nexus Logistics Park. Planning for an initial 800,000 sq ft at Nexus Logistics Park was granted last year. Following the addition of these new units, which are expected to span 1.7 million sq ft, Iput now has permission to build a total of 2.5 million sq ft across 17 buildings at the site. …Each unit can be constructed with a glue-laminated timber frame, while the buildings are expected to have roof-mounted solar panels, LED lighting and rainwater harvesting systems. …“Our ambition is for Nexus to be one of the most sustainable logistics parks in Europe,” Iput’s chief investment officer Michael Clarke said.

Mass timber has the potential to be a critical building component for the cities of the near future given the need for the construction sector to reduce its reliance on concrete and steel to lower its Co2 emissions. However, as this market grows and mass timber buildings evolve to greater heights, the construction risk landscape will also be transformed, bringing risk management challenges for companies, according to the new Emerging Risk Trend Talk report from Allianz Commercial. “The emergence of mass timber as a sustainable construction alternative represents a significant opportunity for the building sector to reduce its carbon footprint while also satisfying a demand for a material that is more cost-efficient but as durable as steel and concrete,” says Michael Bruch, Global Head of Risk Advisory Services at Allianz Commercia. … The main hazards and challenges include fire, natural catastrophes, water damage, manufacturing, supply chain and faulty workmanship issues.”

Researchers discovered a novel method for converting waste heat into power using sustainable Irish wood products. According to the University of Limerick experts, this is a sustainable strategy that reduces expenses and environmental impact. The study shows the effective generation of electricity utilizing “low-grade heat recovered from lignin-derived membranes.” …Low-grade heat is defined as thermal energy generated at temperatures below 200 degrees Celsius. …“Despite its potential, utilizing low-grade thermal energy in energy harvesting applications has been challenging due to the lack of cost-effective technologies,” added Maurice Collins, professor of materials science at UL’s School of Engineering. …Lignin is a commonly neglected residue of wood in paper and pulp manufacture. The researchers found that these membranes may transform waste heat into electricity by harnessing the movement of charged atoms (ions) within the material. …This is said to be the first lignin-based membrane for ionic thermoelectric energy harvesting.

©Laszlo Kovacs

Cannabis sativa – or specifically its non-psychoactive variant, hemp – is being touted for building blocks for housing that may avoid some of the environmental, logistic and economic downsides of concrete. The cement industry is responsible for about 8% of carbon dioxide emissions, alongside problems created by unyielding surfaces and low R-value properties. The search for large-scale alternatives has so far yielded few results, but on a small scale there are intriguing possibilities, including the use of hemp mixed with lime to create low-carbon, more climate healthy building materials. …Recently hemp’s ability to capture more than twice its own weight in carbon – twice as fast as traditional forestry – has come into focus. By some estimates, hemp can capture up to 15 tonnes of CO2 per hectare, through photosynthesis. Hemp cultivation taking up only 25% of the world’s agricultural land used for dairy and livestock would close the UN emissions gap of 23 gigatons of CO2 annually.

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively recently developed construction material that is growing in popularity in some sections of the construction industry. …This variation of one of the oldest building materials in the world – timber – has its origins in the work of German engineer Julius Natterer in the 1970s. …CLT possesses some noteworthy benefits for architects and project managers. Firstly, its aesthetic qualities make it an exceptionally beautiful building material. Secondly, if constructed properly, it has excellent strength and dimensional stability. Another benefit of CLT is that it is much lighter than other structural materials, such as steel and concrete. Whilst not as fireproof as concrete, CLT does have some fireproofing capabilities. During a fire, the outer layer chars, protecting the internal layers for a period of time.

PARIS — Amid the buzz of anticipation for the 2024 Olympics, organizers and Paris City Hall officials inaugurated the first and only purpose-built site in the French capital for this summer’s Games. The Adidas Arena at Porte de la Chapelle is ready and “operational about five months before the Games begin, officials said. It is being touted as showcasing the city’s readiness and commitment to both the global sporting community and its residents. The facility, costing about $150 million and requiring 1,500 tons of steel, required organisers to secure materials from alternative sources amid supply issues caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Officials say it is also a symbol of the city’s desire to host a sustainable games, having been built with recycled materials and wood and featuring a green roof. …Other major construction work for 2024 includes the Olympic Village and the swimming pool, both north of the city.

SWITZERLAND — Marianne Burkhalter and Christian Sumi are deserved laureates of the 2024 Prix Meret Oppenheim in the Architecture category. From the mid-1980s, the duo designed pioneering wooden buildings in an unmistakable language of form and color. …Today, timber construction is booming. In our age of climate crisis, buildings made of wood are being constructed everywhere: residential buildings, kindergartens, schools, and recently even high-rise buildings. Numerous books teach architects how to build with this popular material. …Timber was not always so popular. When Marianne Burkhalter and Christian Sumi began designing wooden buildings in the 1980s, they were swimming against the tide. Projects such as their detached house in Langnau am Albis, built in 1986, were a real rarity back then. However, in the years since, the significance of this pioneering building in terms of architectural history has even been recognized by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland. 

Kengo Kuma & Associates‘ AEAJ Green Terrace stands as a tranquil oasis in Tokyo. This complex timber structure brings an aromatherapy experience facility to the city, built as an harmonious dialogue between architecture and nature, where the very essence of the building reflects its mission — to promote well-being through the power of aromas. The project has recently won the Grand Prize of the Wood City TOKYO Model Architecture Award. Critics highlighted ‘the overwhelming use of wood in the construction, which effectively dampens vibrations from the steel structure and stands out aesthetically. …Gentle ventilation systems further distribute the aromas, creating a multi-sensory journey that engages not just the nose but also the mind and body. The interior layout reinforces this focus on sensory exploration. Dedicated spaces like the ‘Aroma Laboratory’ and ‘Aroma Library’ invite exploration and learning, while the calming ‘Aroma Lounge’ offers a retreat for relaxation and reflection.