Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

The Circlewood consortium, a collective of architects, engineers, builders and researchers, has designed a modular building concept that will act as the basis for up to 30 schools in Amsterdam. The three-storey plug-and play system, called the HoutKern Bouwmethode, consists of standardised wooden columns and cross-laminated floors connected by recycled steel joints. Components are digitally controlled to decrease assembly times and are built on site with the help of an electric crane. …The base’s load-bearing walls enclose areas that can be used as classrooms, auditoriums and gardens. The walls themselves are made from carbon-absorbing materials and can be used to support indoor climbing and vertical farming.

Of the nearly 400 million tonnes of plastic waste produced annually around the world, most ends up in landfills. Only 9% is recycled, with some individual countries recycling far less than that. This massive amount of plastic waste represents a gold mine for the construction industry. A 2022 report by PwC, says the global building materials sector contributed about 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. They say increasing the use of recycled plastic in building materials could have a large environmental benefit. “Recycled plastics can support enhanced recycling and reuse of existing materials… and be a substitute for high-emissions materials such as brick or steel.” The report says acceptance of plastics as a building material has taken time, largely due to a number of misconceptions that include toxicity in the event of fire. …Europe is a world leader in its use of recycled plastics, says PwC.

The winding and impressive Lookout Tower was designed and constructed to mark the nature reserve of Budapest and Naplás Lake. It was designed by Robert Gutowski Architects and serves as a sculptural beacon for hikers. The imposing timber structure features unique geometry and has a simple yet complex form to it. It is an open-worked sculptural mass with a sophisticated, yet playful appeal to it. It artfully arises from the ground, looking like a natural extension of the natural environment, and gently slithers and twists up to the sky, functioning as a tall and massive tower.

If wood is strong enough for buildings and furniture, why not use it for bicycles too? That’s pretty much the thought process that led Masateru Yasuda to design the Moccle, a bicycle that relies on the flexible yet sturdy properties of bent plywood sheets. Traditional Japanese buildings have taken advantage of wood’s flexibility and vibration-absorption properties to build structures that have survived earthquakes, Yasuda points out. “I wondered if I could make a bicycle that takes advantage of the characteristics of this wood,” he adds.

Cormorant Seaplanes has entered the competition to reinvent amphibious aircraft for the 21st century. Its planned seven-passenger model will feature hybrid-electric propulsion, but more unusually may be largely built from wood, which the Dutch company describes as “nature’s original, renewable, composite material.” Cormorant started refining the preliminary design with the University of Glasgow and German aerospace engineering company Leichtwerk. …Managing director Chris Rijff started to consider using wood with a view to making a more environmentally sustainable aircraft. Discussions are underway with a Dutch producer of sustainable, harvested, high-quality, aviation-grade Sitka spruce from its natural habitat on Canada’s Pacific coast. Working with engineers from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, Cormorant is looking into the potential to improve tensile strength by layering wood and carbon fiber. It also has a partnership with Hoffmann Propeller in Germany, which has expertise in wooden propeller design and manufacturing.

Experts in carbon emissions associated with buildings contend the Government’s target to build about 33,000 new homes every year until 2030 will compromise Ireland’s ambitious emissions reduction targets unless low-carbon approaches to building can be embraced across the building sector. Building more timber-framed homes using Irish timber seems like an obvious place to start yet current building regulations in Ireland prevent the use of timber frames in buildings more than 10 metres (three storeys) high. Forestry Industries Ireland (FII) and other groups are currently lobbying for change to this height limit for timber-framed buildings. This would require amendments to Part B of the building regulations, which focus on the fire safety measures in building design. …Currently in Ireland, large scale housing developers such as Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Homes are using timber frames in more and more of their housing developments but smaller building contractors remain committed to masonry built homes.

Henning Larsen and Volvo are working on the design of a new consumer-facing experience center called The World of Volvo ahead of its debut early next year in the automaker’s hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. Henning Larsen computational designer Leonardo Castaman recently explained on LinkedIn some details related to the project team’s seven-step process using the Kangaroo and Galapagos plugins on Grasshopper to create the wooden superstructure of the 236,800-square-foot building. The design incorporates computer-fabricated glulam beams and columns with locally-sourced CLT floor slabs. The materials were selected to promote a circular economy in line with the philosophical notion of “Allemansrätten,” a Swedish concept that essentially translates to “leave nothing behind.” 

How are companies in the paper and fibre-based packaging sector powering their operations, what are the key drivers of innovation in the sector, and which emerging energy technologies should we be keeping an eye on? We pose these questions to Professor Dr Helga Zollner-Croll, vice-chair of the ZELLCHEMING Association – an independent technical-scientifical platform for the pulp and paper industry. What are the key alternative energy sources that are currently gaining momentum? Here, biomass would be mentioned as a renewable energy source, such as black liquor, bark, and sludge, but wind energy also plays a role. Are there any emerging or existing technologies that you think might grow in importance? There are several. These include biorefining – the conversion of biomass, like black liquor, into a range of products, including fuels, chemicals, and materials – as showcased by Stora Enso or UPM Leuna in Germany.