Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

This study examined methods for estimating carbon stocks in wood products used in existing wooden houses built by private building companies and estimated these values focusing on wooden houses built by Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. Moreover, we discussed the data and methods required for more accurate estimates. …Carbon stocks in wood products used in existing wooden houses at the start of FY2021 were estimated to be approximately 1.96 million t-C under the DIM, equal to more than half of carbon stocks in domestic forests owned by the target company, which suggests that wooden houses play a significant role in carbon storage. …It is important for private building companies to continuously acquire time-series data on the floor areas of both newly constructed and existing houses and wood products used in them to improve the accuracy of estimates in the future.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Plastics used in home furnishings and constructions materials could be replaced with a new kind of wood-based degradable plastic with semi-structural strength. Unlike thermoplastic, the material can be broken down without harm to the environment, researchers at KTH have reported. One of the goals of renewable wood composite development is to make materials strong enough to replace fossil-based materials used in home construction and furnishing. And it needs to be sustainable, or circular. Peter Olsén, a researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm… and fellow researchers report that they’ve found a way to deliver both high fiber content and degradability. …In order to achieve higher fiber content, the researchers combined polymer chemistry with process technology similar to what is used for carbon fiber composites.

VIENNA, Austria — Last week, the Viennese City Council approved the zoning and development plan for Europe’s first urban quarter featuring hybrid lumber. The so-called Leopold Quarter will be built on the Danube Canal, an artificial branch of the river, made to help regulate flooding. …Due to the building’s unique design and material usage, they will emit much less CO2 during construction and throughout their lifetime. Wooden high-rise buildings have started to take hold of the construction sector, as the industry tries to decarbonise. …The LeopoldQuartier is the first urban district in Europe to be built entirely using a timber hybrid construction method. Furthermore, after it is complete, it will be powered through 100% green-energy – geothermal and a photovoltaic system. Consequently, the complex should have net-zero emissions and according to the developers.

Dutch architecture firm Powerhouse Company has used cross-laminated timber to construct an off-grid office building that floats on water. …The three-storey building is constructed on a set of 15 “concrete barges” that allow it to float on Rotterdam’s Rijnhaven, a former industrial harbour on the Maas river. A wooden structure, including cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor slabs, contributes to the building’s low carbon footprint and also ensures it is light enough to float. …The building is the largest of its kind in the world… The wooden structure consists of prefabricated frames that were simply screwed together on-site, meaning they could be disassembled and recycled in the future. “The building structure is designed in wood and can easily be demounted and re-used,” said architect and project leader, Paul Sanders. …Powerhouse Company sees the project as an example of how architecture can adapt to the rising sea levels caused by climate change.

Timber Development UK has signed up to The Anti-Greenwash Charter as the next step in its sustainability journey. The Charter is sponsored by the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products, and requires organisations to make a public declaration to uphold good standards of marketing practice, adopt a Green Claims Policy and, by doing so, adhere to the Government’s Green Claims Code and Code for Construction Product Information. Having signed up to the Charter, TDUK has written a Green Claims Policy to set out the standards it has committed to in its marketing and communications. The organisation also requires all its members to abide by these standards. …The policy sets out practices that TDUK will follow to ensure all its communications comply with the Anti-Greenwash Charter and also includes key definitions of green terms commonly used to describe timber and wood-based products and services to help its members do the same.

UNITED KINGDOM—The MP for Bassetlaw, Brendan Clarke-Smith, witnessed first-hand the important role that waste wood plays in the circular economy during a visit to R Plevin & Sons’ wood recycling site in Nottinghamshire on 14 October. The visit came as the Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) officially launched a nationwide MP Engagement Project, intended to improve understanding of wood recycling among policymakers and to build a network of MPs who support the industry. Clarke-Smith was shown around the 12-acre wood processing site at Elkesley where around 150,000 tonnes of wood – including up to 100,000 tonnes of waste wood – is transformed into value-added products each year. …The Elkesley site has benefited from significant investment since being purchased by Plevin in 2002 and features an outdoor wood recycling yard alongside an indoor animal bedding operation featuring state-of-the-art automated screening and baling technology.

West Fraser’s SterlingOSB Zero is the first and only OSB produced in the UK to be free from formaldehyde added during the manufacturing process: hence the ‘Zero’ moniker. SterlingOSB Zero is also one of the most popular panel products employed here, widely used structurally for walls, roofs and applications such as shop-fitting and offsite fabrication. How SterlingOSB Zero is manufactured is, in itself, a complex and fascinating process: beginning with the trees being harvested from UK or European forests, which are de-branched/cut to size and delivered as green timber to the wood storage area of the factory. …West Fraser’s sustainably managed operations from forest to factory gate contribute to SterlingOSB Zero’s manufacture being a net carbon negative process, and therefore another reason for its wide specification across the UK, as the construction industry tries to reduce its environmental impact.

The island of Zanzibar in the Republic of Tanzania is planning the world’s tallest hybrid mass timber tower, a 28-storey residential and commercial building to reach a height of 96 m (315 ft). Once built, this tower will leave behind the world’s tallest mass timber building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which currently sits at 85.4 m (280 ft). The tower with 266 residences will be in Fumba Town, an ecologically sensitive residential development in East Africa, proposed by German-led engineering firm CPS. Named Burj Zanzibar—”Burj” meaning tower in Arabic—the high-rise is dubbed as a “vertical green village” for its abundant green roof gardens and planted balconies, which aim to further reduce the carbon footprint of the building. …Burj Zanzibar will feature a steel-reinforced concrete core, designed to meet all required fire and life safety standards. It will also use locally available wood as a building material to enhance its sustainability outcomes.

Lines of shops display neat stacks of willow wood in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s Sangam village. Behind the shops are small manufacturing units, where that willow is hand-made into cricket bats sold around the world. …Kashmir’s dwindling willow plantations are impacting the region’s famed cricket bat industry, and risking the supply of cricket bats in India, where the sport is hugely followed. The industry employs more than 10,000 people and manufactures nearly 1 million bats every year. …Tens of thousands of towering willow trees were introduced to the picturesque Himalayan region by the British in the early 19th century to maintain the supply of firewood during Kashmir’s harsh winters. However, over the years, farmers in the region have been planting poplars in place of willows. The faster-growing poplar tree is preferred by the booming plywood industry. 

Treewow Villa O is an 80sqm villa hotel designed by MONOARCHI at Siming Mountain in Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The tree house is located on one side of the dyke, surrounded by an ancient bamboo forest near an old tea factory. The small river divides the village into two parts, north and south; the tree hotel is located in the western part of the forest. The tree house is 8 meters high, surrounded by forest, and divided into two parts; the lower part is made of steel and supports the structure; the upper part is mainly wood. The curved roof of the tree house creates a sense of floating. The steel columns are located in a small land area, providing more open space around the structure. The connection between the tree house and the surrounding landscape creates a unique ambiance.