KOREA — Jinju City celebrates its first architecture festival, titled ‘Architecture in the age of carbon neutrality’. Hosted from October 24-31 in Jinju city, the festival featured a mini gallery showcasing wood use in renovated old buildings and new non-residential constructions. The festival was conceived by the architect Sam Jung Choi who is one of Korea’s most prominent advocates of wood construction. He was appointed to be Jinju’s first chief architect and planner in 2017. He is instrumental in the introduction and expansion of wood design in the public spaces of the City. Mr. Choi is a key partner in Canada Wood Korea’s first NLT (Nail-laminated Timber) project which demonstrates how low-carbon NLT products are a viable option for South Korean public structures via his community centre project.
More than 100 Indigenous people in Northwestern Ontario are being trained for careers in the skilled trades in an effort for the province to alleviate the labour shortages in forestry and mining. A $1.5-million investment in three Thunder Bay training initiatives involves a partnership between the Anishinabek Employment and Training Services (AETS) with the Carpenters Union Local 1669. Participants are introduced to general carpentry as well as the basics of welding and electrical trades. This pre-apprenticeship training program includes classroom training and a 12-week paid work placement to gain valuable hands-on experience. The funding is part of an overall $77-million funding commitment by the province to entice more young people to enter in-demand skilled trades careers.
WASHINGTON
Americans bought loads of furniture during the pandemic, with sales …rising by more than $4 billion from 2019 to 2021… And a lot of it won’t survive the decade. …Many of the Ikea beds and Wayfair desks purchased during the COVID-19 lockdown were designed to last about five years, said Deana McDonagh, a professor of industrial design at the University of Illinois. …Increasingly, renters and homeowners are turning to quick and cheap… And they don’t keep it for long. Each year, Americans throw away more than 12 million tons of furniture, creating mountains of solid waste that have grown 450% since 1960, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. …Over the past decade, several sustainability-focused companies have entered the market in hopes of presenting a solution. …Kaiyo, an online marketplace for used furniture, was founded in 2014 and says it has since saved more than 3.5 million pounds of furniture from ending up in landfills.
The world is coming together to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, and all industries and sectors will need to contribute. …Our analysis shows that over the life cycle of a typical building, 76 percent of emissions come from operations and the remaining 24 percent from the processing of raw materials used for and construction of new builds. …There are several possible decarbonization pathways across materials, design, and technology that collectively could help mitigate a significant portion of overall emissions. …To make the transition to net-zero emissions, upstream aspects of low-carbon-intensive construction materials could also be maximized for tackling embodied emissions during the construction process. The cement industry is responsible for about a quarter of all industry CO2 emissions, and it also generates the most CO2 emissions per dollar of revenue. …Wood construction materials emit anywhere from 20 to 60 percent less carbon than steel and concrete in a typical building. 
Development plans are moving forward for two new apartment buildings with affordable housing units in Des Moines, and the City Council on Monday will consider financial incentives for both. A 33-story high-rise apartment tower [and] …a three-story, mixed-use building with 20 multifamily units and 6,500 square feet of retail space on the first floor. The $7.2 million Star Apartments would be the first in Des Moines to get a federal grant to use an eco-friendly building material called mass timber. …The $7.2 million building would be financed by construction loans and developer equity. It also would use a $250,000 grant from the US Forest Service for its use of mass timber, a sustainable product similar to wood beams found in some historic structures. …Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2023 and be finished in 2024.
ALBANY, New York — Inadequate enforcement of building codes has had tragic consequences in New York, with lives of occupants and first responders lost in deadly fires linked to unsafe conditions, according to advocates for local government inspectors. “Most municipalities look at code enforcement as the grass and garbage police,” said Steven McDaniel, chairman of the International Code Council’s building code committee and the chief code enforcer for the city of Corning. Testifying before a panel of state lawmakers, McDaniel suggested one way to ensure code enforcement operations can offer sufficient protection is to institute minimum staffing levels. …McDaniel also suggested that steps be taken to set minimum credentials for building inspectors. How well building codes are enforced can have major impacts on the quality of life in local communities. …The adequacy of building code enforcement has been a concern of lawmakers for several years.
Globally around 2 billion tonnes of waste is generated every year and the construction industry is a large contributor. What’s more, demand for construction materials is growing alongside population and economic development, but the production of new materials to support this growth consumes both energy and resources. An infographic from Northstar Clean Technologies highlights the final destinations of construction and demolition (C&D) debris. The sad truth is that only a small amount of C&D debris that could be repurposed actually is. So where do these materials end up? 143.8 million tons of C&D waste was sent to landfill in 2018, consisting of a mix of materials ranging from wood, concrete, and asphalt. Concrete was the highest repurposed C&D material while other materials like asphalt shingles were primarily sent to landfill.
