Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Mass timber will not become a mainstream building product because it uses too much wood, construction material expert Benjamin Kromoser claims in this Timber Revolution interview. “If we go more in the direction of mass-timber buildings we don’t have enough material, so the idea of scaling it up in the near future will fail,” he said. “I think there will be a possibility to scale it up a bit, so its use will go up in the next few years – especially in Sweden and Norway, where they have built quite a lot of cross-laminated timber production facilities. But I think we will reach the maximum of mass timber in at least 10 years.” Kromoser leads the Institute of Green Civil Engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna… He believes that the main challenge for the building industry is using fewer raw materials overall, rather than simply switching to biomaterials like wood.

Czech architecture practice Mjölk Architekti has built a wooden headquarters for Kloboucká lesní, a management company for sustainable forestry, in Brumov-Bylnice, Czech Republic. Named Kloboucká lesní Headquarters, the 1,034-square-metre building, is predominantly made of glued laminated timber, manufactured only about a hundred meters from the site. Featuring a large triangular space where all program elements are distributed in four levels, the building was designed to adhere the principles of sustainable design and demonstrate the potential of sustainable construction. …The load-bearing structure is made exclusively from timber. Considering the environmental and sustainable principles, with the reduction of carbon emissions during construction, the studio produced the material on-site in the Kloboucká lesní production hall located only a hundred meters away. “Wood is the oldest and the simplest of materials, but the production process is very modern,” said Mjölk Architekti.

If you’re tired of the same mass-produced furniture or interior pieces that the stores are full of and are looking for something unique to decorate your home with, look no further! While it might sound like an introduction to a commercial, there’s actually a great online community where people post anything related to woodworking – r/woodworking! Created in 2008, the subreddit is a home for almost 5 million people celebrating “all things made from trees”. From gigantic wood sculptures to beautiful cabinets, it is a hub for both woodworkers and people interested in this craft. …Click Read More to see these magnificent works of craftsmanship. For more impressive creations, check out our previous articles here, here, here, here and here. 

The impact of multi-storey building design considerations on embodied carbon emissions, cost, and operational energy has been revealed for the first time. Using a computer model, researchers estimate that up to six gigatonnes of carbon could be saved by 2050 if new multi-storey buildings follow certain recommendations during the design process. All these recommendations, which could also save between 28 and 44% of annual heating and cooling costs, use technology that is currently available. …The study found that increasing building compactness, using steel or timber instead of concrete frames, smaller windows with the optimal glazing for a given climate, and using mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, are the best way to decrease embodied emissions and operational energy. The most significant effects on construction costs meanwhile, were the choice of frame material and whether to install mechanical ventilation.

A move towards a built environment that centres sustainability and embodied carbon is driving innovation within mass and hybrid timber construction. We consider the power and potential of timber. The built environment is an industry in which our impact must always be at the forefront of our decision making. We are shaping how the world will look, feel and function in the future, so we must be mindful of the effect our work has. As the built environment adapts and changes in response to the climate crisis, one element to be considered is the use of materials. Mass and hybrid timber … is starting to edge its way into the minds of decision makers. …As attention within the built environment turns to how the impact on the environment can be reduced and how the choices we make can be more sustainable, the use of mass and hybrid timber construction begins to grow.

Chichi Zhang

University of Canterbury (UC) PhD student Chichi Zhang is developing technology and relevant metal oxide materials to help produce green hydrogen from New Zealand’s abundant supply of woody biomass.  Woody biomass originates from trees including stems, branches, barks as well as forestry slash – the technology and materials developed in this project could help solve the problem of slash wood washed away from forests in heavy rain. Together with wastes from manufacturing traditional wood products, it can be used as solid fuel for energy or converted to liquid fuels, gaseous fuels and chemicals through various technologies.  …Her project is the first part of an integrated process to produce green hydrogen from woody biomass. Eventually, the hydrogen and carbon dioxide mixture will be separated to produce pure hydrogen and pure carbon dioxide. 

Joe Giddings

We should be aiming for the future depicted in the Timber Revolution logo with a combination of mid- and high-rise mass-timber buildings interspersed with trees, argues ACAN co-founder Joe Giddings in this interview.  …”I really think we should be building our cities densely and avoiding urban sprawl, and if we follow that to its logical conclusion you need buildings at scale.”  Giddings is a co-founder of the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) pressure group and UK networks lead at Built By Nature, an organisation dedicated to accelerating timber construction across Europe.  …Because of their structural properties, Giddings believes that mass-timber products like cross-laminated timber, glued laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber are best-placed to decarbonise the built environment, and not timber frame as some experts suggest. 

Philip Oldfield

There is a paradox in our desire for a low-carbon built environment. On the one hand, we know buildings are responsible for 37 per cent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and we need to radically reduce this to avoid global heating. On the other, UN-Habitat estimates that 3 billion people need adequate housing by 2030, with demand for 96,000 new homes every day (that’s more than one per second), giving us a clear moral responsibility to build to improve people’s lives.  But building is inherently carbon-intensive, which leaves us with a problem.  …Our current building practices are unsustainable, that much is clear. A major concern over embodied carbon has emerged, sparking a great architectural debate on what materials we should be using and when, along with a flurry of innovation in material science. …Mass timber has risen from this debate as the go-to material for more sustainable design.

World Wood Day is a cultural event on March 21st, the vernal equinox, to highlight wood as an eco-friendly and renewable biomaterial and to raise awareness on the key role wood plays in a sustainable world through biodiversity and forest conservation. The day serves as a reminder of the importance and true value of wood and its responsible uses. A major event is organized annually on March 21, usually week-long, to celebrate wood across disciplines. Artists, educators, hobbyists, and industries come together from different lands, languages and cultures to share experiences, skills and passions for wood. The event centralizes various uses of wood which allows extrapolation and eventual application to individual lifestyles. Satellite events are organized in different regions throughout the year to continue the exploration and experiences. 

Architects enthusiastic about mass timber must improve their understanding of fire safety or risk disaster, experts tell Dezeen as part of the Timber Revolution series. Uncertainty among governments and insurers over whether mid- and high-rise timber buildings are safe in a fire remains a key obstacle to the greater adoption of engineered-wood buildings. No consensus has been reached across different building code jurisdictions about the safety limitations of building with wood, and the rules vary wildly between countries. In Finland, the maximum permitted height for a residential building with a load-bearing timber structure and no sprinklers is two storeys. In neighbouring Sweden, there is no limit. Some countries, including the US, France and Switzerland have recently changed regulations to make building with timber easier, but others – like the UK – have made it tougher.

The smartest new-build homes are not just sustainable, but also soothe the senses. The secret is CLT. We asked some of its biggest fans in the architecture world why it’s the material of the moment. …CLT has been used in construction for more than two decades, primarily for large-scale housing and office developments. But amid growing concerns about sustainability, architects are now exploring its benefits on a smaller, more residential scale. …A big advantage of this material lies in its creation of interiors that don’t need any additional finishing. As long as the wood is treated with a fire-retardant coating – a requirement of UK building regulations – it can be left exposed. Studies have shown that being surrounded by wood can reduce blood pressure, heart rate and stress levels, and improve a person’s emotional state, so the potential wellbeing benefits of this style of interior are enormous.

The last few months have seen a major transition for China, with the COVID-19 travel restrictions being dropped. As the borders reopen for travel, we will be adapting our programs for the new dynamics of the market, to better support industry stakeholders. After almost 20 years, we will be moving out of the Dream Home Canada (DHC) building as we look at where we can adjust our programs to a greater awareness of wood construction amongst designers and builders in China, which reflects the success of our work over the years. …While our offices will change, our mandate remains the same, to promote the use of wood products in construction and wood-in-manufacturing sectors and to support Canadian wood exports to China. …An interview with the designer Peter Fu shares more detail about how the DHC building fits into the evolution of wood construction in China. 

As we continue our Timber Revolution series, we look at Australia’s first mass-timber high-rise apartment building, which was built from cross-laminated timber grown in Austria. Built in 2012, the 10-storey Forté block was the world’s tallest timber residential building – measuring 32 metres tall – when it was completed. The building was made from 759 cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels created from European spruce, which was grown and harvested in Austria by manufacturing company KLH. Once harvested, the timber was processed into CLT at KHL’s Austrian factory, before being flat pack-style shipped to Australia. It was designed to showcase the potential of using CLT in Australia, despite the material not being available locally. …Being Australia’s first CLT apartment building, the structure had to demonstrate both the viability and safety of the material.

Continuing our Timber Revolution series, we look at the Tamedia Office Building by Shigeru Ban – Switzerland’s first seven-storey mass-timber structure that was barely legal at the time of its completion in 2013. Designed as an extension to the neighbouring headquarters of Swiss publishing group Tamedia, the office takes over a prominent site on the banks of the river Sihl and leaves its timber skeleton exposed for all to see, sheathed only by the building’s glass skin. Its prefabricated frame is made of 2,000 cubic metres of glued-laminated timber, held together entirely without screws or nails using a novel structural system developed by Japanese architect Ban in collaboration with Swiss engineer Hermann Blumer. …The seven-story Mansard-roofed structure flew in the face of local fire codes, which at the time only allowed wood structures of up to six stories.

“The mobility of the future will be more diverse, smarter, more shared, cleaner and greener. Cities must again be there for people, not cars, protecting the environment,” says Belgian-born, Paris-based architect Vincent Callebaut who seeks to reinvent the automobile and transport sector with Timber Mobilities, a range of 5 prototype vehicles designed for “peaceful and ecological mobility on land, in the air and on the water”. Designed by a team of 5 architects at Vincent Callebaut Architectures using AI assistance, the five prototypes combine ergonomic architecture with a biomimetic design, renewable energy (solar, biohydrogen, green micro-algae), and a mix of bio-based materials (cross laminated timber and engineered bamboo) and recycled materials (recycled aluminium and fibreglass) to showcase a vision of the mobility of the future. The five imaginative vehicles include the hydrofoil – a ferry boat; VTOL bus – a flying bus; shuttle – a public transport vehicle; bike – a light bicycle; and car – an autonomous vehicle for city driving.

Ambitious concepts like Nikken Sekkei’s proposal for the world’s tallest timber skyscraper can accelerate the use of engineered wood but should not be the focus, argues Hajime Aoyagi. Aoyagi is part of a team at Japanese studio Nikken Sekkei that is working on a joint research project with wood manufacturer Sumitomo Forestry centred on a concept for the world’s tallest wooden building in Tokyo. …”It is not intended for immediate construction at this point in time, but by setting major goals, it aims to create a roadmap for technological development and uncover issues that need to be solved [in mass timber],” explained Aoyagi. …For him, the true value of the concept lies in sparking interest in mass timber and encouraging its uptake – particularly in Japan and help push the country to achieve a “low-carbon age”. However, this is hindered by the cost of domestic wood products, caused by the decline of its forestry industry.

Sustainable structural timber offers a range of benefits related to reducing the environmental footprint of buildings and construction processes. We will explore how sustainable structural timber (SST) can contribute towards achieving net zero. First, this article will examine how using SST in buildings reduces their embodied carbon – that is, the total amount of greenhouse gas released during the production process. It will then look at other advantages of SST, such as its durability and low maintenance requirements, which reduce energy use over time. Finally, it will identify opportunities for SST to achieve greater efficiency in construction projects and meet higher sustainability standards. By exploring these various aspects, this paper seeks to demonstrate how utilizing sustainable structural timber could be an effective strategy for achieving net zero carbon emissions in the building sector by 2050.

Andrew Waugh

…As a founding director of Waugh Thistleton Architects, Waugh has been developing buildings with cross-laminated timber structures for 15 years. …He is skeptical of the growing trend for timber high-rises and proposals to build tall skyscrapers out of wood, questioning whether they make best use of the material. “Architecture practices are coming out with computer generated images of supertall buildings, with an arrow that says timber,” he said. “It’s bullshit, because if you’re going to build a tall building in timber, you still have to fill it full of concrete to make sure it doesn’t wave around.” …The architect’s worry is that interest in timber has become fashionable and could be seen as a passing trend. “This could be a moment of fashion that we’re in, rather than the beginning of a paradigm shift, which is what it needs to be,” he said.

Next in our Timber Revolution series, we profile a university laboratory by Austrian studio Nussmüller Architekten that was conceived as both an advert and a testing centre for the capabilities of mass timber. Built at the turn of the millennium, the Bau Technik Zentrum (BTZ), which translates as the Construction Technology Centre, was commissioned to house the timber-engineering department at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria. …The BTZ …was one of the first examples of panel-system mass-timber construction, and the first timber building with a curved roof, according to Nussmüller. Furthermore, it became the place where much of the early technical research that led to cross-laminated timber (CLT) becoming a practical building material took place. The building [was] partly based on the vision of Gerhard Schickhofer. Schickhofer’s PhD thesis on the huge potential of laminated timber panels layered in alternating directions was instrumental in the development of CLT as a product.

…While wind turbines may project a carbon friendly image …the steel, concrete, and plastics that go into making them take their toll on the environment. End of their life poses additional problems [much of the carbon ends] up in landfill. …The solution … could lie with laminated wood and ‘Ikea-style flatpack’ pieces. The idea of wood-based wind turbines has taken hold in north Europe, where firms are on the verge of scaling up prototypes and early versions. In Germany, start-up firm Voodin Blade Technology is working with Finnish timber specialist Stora Enso to develop wooden turbine blades. …Because the engineered wood it uses is stronger than steel at the same weight but less expensive to produce, it opens the prospect of wood being used to construct ever taller towers – meeting a key demand of the wind energy sector and without the need for costly reinforcements.