Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

TOKYO — The 11-story Port Plus building stands out even in Yokohama’s posh Naka Ward. …90% of its structural elements are made with wood. Built by engineering group Obayashi, the building is an example of how Japan’s leading builders exploring wood as an alternative to steel and concrete — two of the most carbon-intensive materials — as nations look to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions over the entire life span of the building, from producing the materials to tearing it down, will total about 60% as much as for a steel-frame building of a similar size, Obayashi says. After accounting for the amount of CO2 absorbed by trees used to make the lumber, that footprint shrinks to around a quarter, the company estimates. …”There’s potential for wood materials to become more prevalent, especially for mid-to-high rise buildings and nonresidential buildings,” said Hiroaki Kojima, director of the wood promotion division at Japan’s Forestry Agency.

In the Fryers Forest, around 50 kilometres south of Bendigo, one group of residents isn’t feeling the rising cost of living as hard as most.  Hamish MacCallum is one of 30 people who live in a rural ecovillage, nestled in the forest in Fryerstown.  Standing in the kitchen of the house he built himself, he proudly explains the kitchen bench was a cypress tree that fell on a local farmer’s property during last year’s storms.  “[It’s about] taking a waste product, a fallen down tree, and turning it into something beautiful,” he says.  …Mr MacCallum has become an expert at reusing and recycling.  The house is made from 50 per cent recycled and reused materials, most of which were locally sourced.  On the verandah, two pieces of wooden ‘bush poles’ were once trees on this block of land. 

Australian start-up Hoopsy has created a recyclable pregnancy test that is 99 per cent made out of paper, aiming to stop millions of single-use plastic versions ending up in landfill each year. The Hoopsy “eco pregnancy test” is made almost entirely out of paper, with cardboard packaging that can be recycled in domestic bins. Only the pouch the test comes in is made of soft plastic and needs to be recycled through supermarket collection. The company aims for its products to replace plastic home pregnancy tests, 12.5 million of which it says are completed each year in the UK before being thrown in the bin. …Hoopsy has been approved for sale following clinical trials that showed it was over 99 per cent accurate from the day of a person’s expected period.

Timber skyscrapers up to 50 storeys tall may soon dot Australian skylines in a push to decarbonise and revitalise urban construction.  Three separate plans have been submitted to build hybrid timber buildings in Perth and Sydney between 180 metres and 220 metres high.  Each would more than double the height of the current world record-holder, an 86.6-metre apartment building in Milwaukee, USA.  Timber skyscrapers are made possible by hybrid construction, which uses engineered “mass timber” around a concrete core.  Developer James Dibble, whose proposal for a 47-storey apartment building in Perth is before the state development panel, said hybrid technology puts timber on par with concrete and steel.  “I think a 350 metre hybrid building is possible, which is almost twice the height [of the Perth apartment building].”

Western readers still prefer reading from ‘real’ books, rather than from e-books or listening to audiobooks, according to a survey by renewable pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of people who buy books, e-books, or audio-books said they like physical books best. One in five (21%) preferred e-books, and just 14% opted for audiobooks. The survey, which covered the UK, France, Germany, and the US, also found that many people had been spurred into reading more because of the pandemic – an effect particularly notable in the US and UK, where more than two-thirds (70%) said they now read more. Alongside this rise in demand has come a greater recognition of the industry’s need to decarbonise, according to Lisa Faratro, director of environment and sustainability at commercial printers the CPI Group.

Scientists have invented a magical gadget that sucks the ink off printer paper so each sheet can be used 10 times over. The trick to the so-called “de-printer” is specially coated paper, which stops ink soaking into the page. A powerful laser then vaporises the ink.

AUSTRALIA — One of two new hotels announced by Harrop’s Thrive Construct, the Adelaide building will be constructed of cross laminated timber and green steel, and will reach a height of 31 levels or 100 metres. “When it is completed it will be the tallest international hotel in the world constructed of CLT. “The structure is completely carbon neutral and constructed from renewable plantation pine and green steel – all supplied from Australian industry.” The timber for the Cox Architects-designed building will be produced by Queensland manufacturer XLam, which manufactures engineered timber for prefabricated mass timber construction. (A second $80 million CLT factory is currently being built by Timberlink at Tarpeena in south-east South Australia.) …While Harrop’s latest building is not the largest timber building being planned – larger projects are mooted for Sydney and Perth – it does suggest that CLT is becoming more mainstream in Australia.

Forests are not just the lungs of the planet: they have huge potential, if managed sustainably, to become a major source of welfare, income and renewable products as part of a more healthy global economy. However, a major shift in thinking is needed so that this potential – worth trillions of USD in net benefits globally – is harnessed. In short, we need to change the way that people think about wood. Wood is renewable, recyclable, climate friendly and incredibly versatile. It is one of humanity’s most ancient raw materials, yet thanks to innovations in wood-based product development, it can take us into the future, replacing fossil and mineral-based materials with heavier carbon footprints. …But we must act now to make a difference for future generations by reimagining and repurposing one of the planet’s oldest natural resources. With sustainably produced wood, we can grow the solution.

Often characterised as the ‘sunset industry’ amidst growing digitalisation, the paper industry might not be on a downfall, in fact data and analysts suggest that the companies are growing and various catalyst will push the growth further in future. Until a few years ago, the paper industry’s prospects looked in danger with growing digitisation. Then the global supply of pulp was hit because of the COVID pandemic, and production costs rose due to the Russia-Ukraine war. But the tide seems to be turning now, with India becoming a net exporter of paper. The future, too, seems bright, thanks to the recently implemented plastic ban. ..India banned the manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single use plastics from July 1. While the decision created chaos among …companies that used plastic straws and wrappers for most of their products, the paper sector gained as their products would be the most viable alternative available.

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) will look at the links between the sustainability of the UK’s timber industry, imports of key commodities, and global deforestation. With global timber demand set to quadruple by 2050, and given the commitment to promote timber use in construction as part of the UK’s Net Zero Strategy, domestic demand is also likely to increase. However, the UK is the second highest importer of wood in the world … It is estimated that around one fifth of the UK’s imported timber footprint is from countries considered to have high social and/or environmental risks associated with their forestry practices. …the EAC will explore how best to scale up a sustainable and resilient domestic timber sector to reduce reliance on imports … and woodland creation. This new inquiry will explore the degree to which UK supply chains contribute to deforestation overseas… and how to work with international partners to tackle deforestation.