Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Pan-Abode International is the iconic building system of solid Western Red Cedar interlocking logs and materials to lock-up package. As a Side Event to the World Circular Economy Forum, on Thursday September 16th, 2021 at 13:00 – 15:00 PT, come see how we:

• Regenerate Natural Systems – We exclusively use sustainably harvested renewable Western Red Cedar from British Columbia, Canada as our 4″x6″ timbers to form our solid cedar walls and the majority of the other components (sub floor, roof system, windows, doors, and trim) are WRC and other Canadian woods
• Design Out Waste – We customize each design for the site including energy, carbon modelling and structural engineering, we supply a prefabricated package with all the materials to the lock-up stage of construction, and we help coordinate logistics
• Keep Materials in Use – We select materials for durability, utilize interlocking joinery with few fasteners, and offer design services and technical support in re-designing and re-assembly with re-used Pan-Abode packages
   

…One of the current frontiers is building taller with wood. The introduction of cross-laminated timber has accelerated this pursuit, most notably in Europe and North America. While pushing the envelope is a noble objective, doing so just to secure bragging rights misses the mark. Just as the structural engineering community asks if it makes sense to build ever taller with concrete and steel, the same question can apply to tall wood towers. The taller the building, the more heavy-lifting that has to be performed by the columns and shear walls. With timber falling well shy of steel and concrete in the strength category, this results in larger columns and shear walls and decreased useable floor area in a tall wood building. …Tall timber buildings typically weigh less than their concrete and steel cousins; however, these advantages begin to diminish when breaking through the 30 to 40 story barrier, where controlling wind accelerations can benefit from the increased mass.

The decision to build a new deck with either wood or a wood composite is a matter of personal choice and money. Wood is the real deal and even with this year’s unprecedented market conditions, relatively inexpensive. …Composites are a blend of wood fibres and plastics and are typically more expensive. Tim Snell, sales manger with Timber Town Building Centres, says composite deck packages at his stores in Alberta are outselling real wood four to one. “Composites are typically sought after by people looking for a low maintenance lifestyle and peace of mind warranties. There are colour options and design esthetics that you just can’t achieve with wood,” he says. …Composites can be beautiful, but as good as today’s technology is, the science can’t quite replicate Mother Nature. “The biggest advantage is lumber is cost effective and sourced locally. We shop local and deal with Spray Lakes Sawmills in Cochrane,” Snell says.

Sadegh Mazloomi and Phil Evans

How are artificial intelligence, climate change and baseball connected? More than you might think. Ash is the most popular wood species for making bats… But the emerald ash borer is threatening the species used to produce bats like Rawlings and the iconic Louisville Slugger. … In recent years, other species like maple have risen in popularity [but] it is threatened by the invasive Asian longhorned beetle. So, how do you climate-proof the baseball bat? Using a combination of ANSYS for computer modelling and MATLAB for evolutionary optimization techniques—and applying design specifications defined by MLB’s Official Baseball Rules—Dr Phil Evans, professor and BC Leadership Chair at the Faculty of Forestry’s Department of Wood Science with researcher Dr Sadegh Mazloomi are improving the bat’s performance by altering its shape. This modelling approach could be used to optimize the baseball bat design for a stronger, more shock-resistant wood species to improve performance.

Ian De La Roche

VANCOUVER — Given the carbon emissions intensity of steel and concrete, and the imperatives of addressing climate change, the market for engineered wood products in construction is expected to grow in the coming years. And as it grows and evolves, there may be added benefits for engineered wood manufactures to not only use locally grown timber, but to incorporate bamboo. That was one of the suggestions at the first day of a three-day virtual conference held by the University of BC’s faculty of forestry. …Forestry can play a key role in climate change strategies, both as carbon sinks, as well as producing renewable fuels and in the displacement of high emissions building materials. …“Wood-based products have to be considered as an integral part of our strategy to decarbonize economies and mitigate climate change,” said Ian De La Roche, an adjunct professor at UBC’s faculty of forestry.

October 18^th to October 22^nd, 2021 — The Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in collaboration with the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is pleased to announce the British Columbia Timber Building and Technical Tour to showcase leading manufacturers of mass-timber building components, prefabricated energy efficient homes, and modular building systems fabricators. The UBC CAWP has been leading tours to Europe for over 15 years.  This tour is an opportunity for participants to visit some of BC’s leading mass-timber building component and prefabricated building systems manufacturers, many of whom have attended our past tours to Europe and have adopted and implemented principles and technologies into their manufacturing practices. These companies provide building solutions to meet the sustainability and green building requirements of advanced energy efficient materials, and mass-timber products for single family, multi-family, and non-residential construction.

… Ministry of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada, announced funding of over $3.5 million in federal support for the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) BioProducts Institute. This funding will support the development, scale-up, and production of sustainable bioproducts, such as filters, adhesives, lightweight materials, and personal protective equipment, by helping de-risk technologies and foster the commercialization of bioproducts and solutions. Using waste and residue from B.C. forests, this approach will create alternatives to plastic-based, single use products. The pulp and paper sector has faced global competitive challenges in recent years, and pulp and paper mills in B.C. must continue to innovate to stay competitive. UBC’s BioProducts Institute is ranked in the top three globally in its field. It will help mills in the province become bioproduct or biorefinery mills, creating sustainable materials for use in the medical field, personal care, filtration, crop protection, and other industries.

How nature, wood and other organic materials can support healing and improve patient care. More and more, science is confirming the merits of the emerging concept of biophilia: that being exposed to nature not only calms our mind, it can contribute to a sense of health and well-being. There is perhaps no better place to apply this than health care architecture and design. For most of human history, a connection to nature was a given, with our daily lives intimately tied to the cycles of the sun, the seasons, and the natural world around us. It’s only recently that we began to earn a living … and socialize without leaving home. While it is convenient, this separation from the great outdoors may be taking a toll on our health. So, it makes sense that designers are increasingly looking for ways to incorporate more natural materials and a connection to nature into buildings. 

BC Wood is pleased to announce that the Global Buyers Mission (GBM), the largest and most important wood show for international buyers and Canadian sellers of value-added wood products—will take place this September in a new two-phase virtual format. After the last GBM, it was determined that the most productive time was spent in the pre-scheduled face-to-face video meetings. Therefore, the format for this coming GBM will be solely based on B2B Building Connections meeting schedules. The virtual meetings will run September 14-15 for Asian Market Buyers and September 29-30 for North & Latin America Market Buyers. Buyers and Mission Leaders will have advanced access to the online company promotional materials. Sellers in turn will have participants listings for pre-and-post event outreach. This virtual event has no limitations on the information participating Canadian companies can share in their virtual space, or on the number of qualified buyers who can participate.