Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

The UK timber industry can help us reach net-zero and meet housing targets – which is why I’m relaunching the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Timber Industries. This Government has committed to build 300,000 homes in the UK each year to make it possible for more people to own a home – a place for people to call their own, a place for families to raise children and build their lives. But it’s not enough to just build more houses – these homes must also be better quality, safer, beautiful, and more sustainable. …As the Environmental Audit Committee looks into the sustainability of the built environment, I expect they will again highlight the importance of using more wood in construction – as the Climate Change Committee have repeatedly emphasised in reports over the past four years. …We must show that we can build more, build better, and build lower-carbon.

Norwegian architecture office Helen & Hard has completed a pair of shingle-clad treehouses on a hillside overlooking the Hardangerfjord. The Woodnest treehouses are situated above the town of Odda at the southern tip of Sørfjorden …Each of the cabins has an internal floor area of just 15 square metres that incorporates sleeping areas, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living space with views out towards the fjord. The interior spaces are arranged around the tree trunks, which form the main structural core. A series of radial glue-laminated timber ribs create an outer shell incorporating large windows. The buildings are wrapped in a protective skin made from untreated timber shingles that will weather gradually to take on a tone and patina that matches the surrounding forest. Internal walls, ceilings, flooring and fitted furniture are all made from wood to reference the Norwegian tradition of timber construction.

Quiet, clean and green are not words you would typically use to describe a construction site. But the site at Olav Vs gate was special. In a first of its kind in the world, all the machinery used on site – excavators, diggers and loaders – were electric. …Another innovation looking to increase efficiency and reduce waste is modular construction. The process is where a building, or parts of it, are constructed off-site, which brings its own advantages. In Denmark and the Nordic countries, given… limited daylight in the winter months, builders don’t have much time out in the field. Instead, many of the buildings are using a lot of prefabricated elements. …Although slow, progress is being made… the City of Oslo expects around 10 to 20 new projects launching this year will use heavy-duty zero emission equipment such as diggers, wheel loaders, trucks and drill rigs on site.

Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have opened the athletes’ village to the media, showing off apartments and a timber-laced shopping plaza where 11,000 athletes would stay and mingle during the sporting extravaganza. …The wooden plaza, which draws on Japanese minimalist design aesthetics, follows the Tokyo 2020 theme of using timber in the construction of Olympics venues, including the National Stadium. The 2.4 billion yen ($29 million) shopping area was made from 40,000 pieces of timber donated by 63 Japanese municipal governments. Each donated piece is marked with the name of the area that provided the wood. After the Olympics, it will be dismantled and the timber returned to the donating cities for re-use in local facilities. The apartment complex abutting the shopping plaza was built on reclaimed land, and designed to house about 12,000 people in 23 buildings. It includes shops, a park and a school. The buildings will be converted into flats after the Olympics.

The combination of digital technology and mass timber is revolutionising the way we design and build buildings, according to the panellists of our recent talk with Dassault Systèmes. Titled How Virtual Mass Timber Extends and Improves Real Mass Timber, the talk explored how new digital design tools and material innovations are converging to create more sustainable buildings and cities.  …Dassault Systèmes, which has its roots in developing software for the aviation and automotive industries, offers architects, engineers and contractors a suite of digital tools to enable them to apply DfMA methodologies via it’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform. In particular, Dassault Systèmes’ platform enables the creation of what the brand calls a “Virtual Twin Experience” that allows users to test ideas and real-life scenarios to iterate the design before the construction phase to ensure that the process is as efficient as possible.

CLTP Tasmania has officially launched the world’s first hardwood Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), along with their new brand – Cusp Building Solutions. Cusp CLT is made from Tasmanian Plantation Oak (Eucalyptus Nitens) sourced from certified sustainable plantations grown in Tasmania. Using a resource that is currently exported as woodchips, they have created a world-leading mass timber product for the Australian building industry. Cusp’s products have achieved certification from the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia. Cusp CEO Chris Skeels-Piggins says: “The result is building solutions at the leading edge, with impeccable sustainability credentials. We discover better ways to create strikingly beautiful, effortlessly useful buildings and spaces. We also understand what matters in the wider world and how we can make a positive contribution to its future.”

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) and the University of Tasmania will launch an ambitious vision for forest products innovation, which would position Australia as a leader in sustainable, low-emission industries. In a policy proposal to be launched by Senator Jonathon Duniam, AFPA and the University have partnered to call for Federal Government support to establish a world-scale forest industries research and development powerhouse – the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation (NIFPI). The industry co-funded NIFPI would be headquartered at the University’s Newnham campus in Launceston and… spearhead the development of clean, green and renewable wood-based products of the future. AFPA’s Ross Hampton said that as the world moves towards a lower emissions future, renewable timber and wood fibre industries were uniquely placed to lead the way in replacing fossil fuel-based products such as plastics, chemicals and carbon-intensive building materials.

Forestry Minister Stuart Nash is well qualified to advance the cause for wood but 20 years in the sector does not qualify him to close one eye when it comes to complementary options, says publisher Mike Bishara, Scion Innovation Hub – Rotorua. The Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) maintains that design should dictate material, advocating for the right material based on design that has been tested, consented and peer-reviewed where appropriate. Chief executive Troy Coyle says these decisions should not be dictated by government or industry bodies but by architects and engineers… Some of the conversation suggests that a ‘wood first’ policy would help New Zealand do better against emissions targets. …While wood is absolutely right for many jobs and applications, mandating its use for all projects could create economic and other problems. …it is just as essential that future buildings are resilient to our changing climate, and steel and concrete offer resilient buildings.

A Scandinavian company plans to launch the world’s first wooden satellite to bring attention to the use of renewable materials in space. We’ve previously reported on plans from Japan… but it now looks like Europe will snatch that achievement. The European design is being put forward by Finnish company Arctic Astronautics. …The satellite, which measures roughly 10cm on each side, is constructed from simple materials and weighs just one kilogram. The team hopes that their design can help move space technology away from fossil-based materials and toward more renewable materials like wood. “The base material for plywood is birch,” explained Woodsat co-founder Samuli Nyman. …“we also add a very thin aluminum oxide layer — typically used to encapsulate electronics. This should minimize any unwanted vapors from the wood, while also protecting against the erosive effects of atomic oxygen.”

Minister Nash – what were you thinking? Forestry Minister Stuart Nash announced a timber first strategy for government buildings – stating that “there is nothing you can do with steel and concrete that you can’t do with timber”. Is the Minister proposing that the new pedestrian bridge over Auckland harbour will be built from timber? The fact is that his statement is simply not true and demonstrates why politicians should not be choosing our building materials. …Under a Wood First strategy, government buildings will be considerably more expensive and delivery likely to be significantly delayed till timber is available. …If we are serious about reducing our net carbon emissions, we have to stop talking about embodied carbon and start talking about lifetime carbon emissions – cradle-to-cradle. …It is where materials like steel, which is infinitely recyclable and has a 72% recycling rate, has a better story to tell.

As Vietnam’s wood in manufacturing sector has seen incredible growth over the last few years, Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) continues to focus on opportunities for B.C. forest products within this market. As part of product trial strategies aimed at showcasing innovative furniture pieces made from B.C. softwoods, the FII Vietnam team has begun working with a leading local design group – Minh Chuong – that specializes in custom joinery and furniture pieces for retail, restaurant, resort, marine and high-end office projects. Together, Minh Chuong and FII Vietnam developed three aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically designed rocking chairs made from western hemlock, western red cedar and yellow cedar. The success of the trial was partly due to the favourable properties of western hemlock. …The success of this initial trial has led to FII Vietnam continuing to work with Minh Chuong on future projects, showcasing Canadian softwoods in a range of furniture and interior applications.