Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Earlier this month, after four years out of the market, I returned to China. …Over the course of the week I had some very informative meetings with a number of key technical building contacts and institutions. We also participated in a workshop with the Chinese Academy of Forestry. It was obvious that the Chinese were eager for engagement and wanted more interaction with foreign stakeholders. …It was clear that these organizations are sophisticated and in some respects ahead of Canada in many work areas – carbon reduction, conformity assessment and anticipating global over-the-horizon procurement requirements. …Canadian entities and companies should include China in their travel plans. Tensions between China and western nations are real but China remains an engine of global manufacturing and a massive buyer. The USA, New Zealand and Australia are working to shore up their China linkages. …I suggest Canadian forest companies and government get back to China. You will be made welcome there. 

The government has updated its guidance calling for second staircases in all new tall residential buildings over 18 metres – further enhancing the UK’s world-leading building safety standards, it says. The change in guidance adds to a package of recent fire safety measures and reforms including the Building Safety Act which ensure the safety of people in both new and existing tall buildings. Existing tall buildings are also being considered as part of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendations. The Home Office is currently considering responses to their consultation on personal emergency evacuation plans, to which a response will be published in due course. Lee Rowley, Minister for Housing, said: “The change in guidance to include two staircases for buildings over 18 metres provides clarity for developers and ensures both new and existing buildings provide safe and secure homes for all residents.” … the change reflects views of experts including the National Fire Chiefs Council and Royal Institute of British Architects.

Setting the hotel apart in the cityscape, western red cedar captures the attention of each person passing by. In the heart of Udaipur, India, stands the Parallel Hotel, recognized for its luxury and sophistication. Amidst its modern interiors and captivating views, the hotel’s unique architectural feature lies in the façade, adorned with western red cedar. Confronted by the demanding climate of Rajasthan–marked by fluctuating temperatures and diverse weather conditions–manufacturer I.EVO selected western red cedar for the hotel’s exterior applications such as the soffits and exterior cladding. Western red cedar offers resilience against the harsh elements due to its superior durability and dimensional stability. Its natural resistance to decay and insect damage means no chemical treatment is required. Beyond these benefits, the ability to take on rich, elegant stains make it an ideal choice for outdoor cladding and soffits. The decision to use western red cedar aligns with the Parallel Hotel’s commitment to sustainability. 

With 21st-century technological advancement of mass timber and increasing governmental approvals for its use in structures of all kinds, the architecture world is currently experiencing a renewed interest in the natural material. …The works below explore the best designs that wood can provide, by top architects from around the globe:

• Knarvik Community Church, Knarvik, Norway, Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter, 2014.
• Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island, Canada, Saunders Architecture, 2013.
• Fireplace for Children, Trondheim, Norway, Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter, 2010.
• Office Off, Burgenland, Austria, heri & salli, 2013.
• Timber House, Newmarket in der Oberpfalz, Germany, Kühnlein Arch, 2014.
• Volga House, Tverskaya, Russia, Peter Kostelov, 2009.
• Mae Sot Dormitories, Bangkok, Thailand, a.gor.a Architects, 2012.
• Barn B at Mason Lane Farm, Goshen, KY, USA, De Leon, 2009.
• Liyuan Library, Beijing, China, Li Xiadong, 2011.
• House K, Stockholm, Sweden, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, 2004.
• Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado, USA, Shigeru Ban Architects, 2014
• GC Prostho Museum Research Center, Kasugai, Japan, Kengo Kuma, 2010
• Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Kristiansand, Norway, ALA Architects, 2012
• Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall, Stuttgart, Germany, U of Stuttgart, 2014
• The Arc at Green School, Bali, Indonesia, IBUKU studio, 2021

T3, our building model for positive change, blends the inspiring, natural feel of timber spaces with the exceptional efficiency and cutting-edge technology of our best-in-class buildings. T3 brings environmental and social sustainability to the workplace in a sophisticated, elegant way. Made with rapidly renewable, sustainably sourced timber, T3 buildings are clean and quick to construct and poised to meet global climate goals. T3’s natural wood interior, paired with wellness-inspired amenities and an exceptional technology platform, creates a unique work environment that fosters productivity and sparks innovation. T3’s exceptional amenities prioritize health and well-being, and the natural wood interior and bright, inspiring spaces help people feel – and do – their best. Timber is one of our planet’s most rapidly renewable resources. It also stores carbon rather than emitting it. By leveraging timber for both structure and interior, our T3 buildings address bold carbon commitments and ESG goals.

Taking a step towards a sustainable solution to plastic pollution, German company COPECTO is ‘greening’ the payment industry by offering the world’s first plastic-free wooden card for the payment and non-payment sector. In the war to reduce waste and promote a sustainable, circular economy, plastic remains a formidable adversary. Despite posing universal challenge, plastic continues to be an essential material for numerous indispensable items, such as bank cards. Globally, over 25 billion plastic cards are in use, a significant number of which are crafted from non-biodegradable virgin plastics such as PVC. …Germany-based COPECTO, recognized the urgency of this issue and set out to revolutionize payment card production by introducing the world’s first plastic-free wooden card for the payment and non-payment sector. …From one cubic meter of wood, approximately 100,000 cards can be manufactured. Therefore, if the entire 6 billion plastic cards were substituted with wooden cards, it would necessitate around 60 cubic meters of wood.

TOULOUSE, France — BIG has unveiled renderings for its new Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub project in Toulouse, France’s fourth largest city. The 129,000-square-foot building connects the city center to the UNESCO-listed Canal du Midi. …The local studio A+ Architecture is also contributing to the project. The design is for a mass timber structure topped with a rose-colored folded roof replete with photovoltaics and finished in the same tone by a low-carbon concrete floor. …Pursuing low carbon solutions in the design, we employed mass timber, low carbon concrete, and natural ventilation throughout, with photovoltaics on the roof. This simple yet multifunctional design transforms the roof into Toulouse’s new landmark,” Jakob Sand, BIG’s Partner in Charge for the project, described of their ambition. …Another European mass timber transit hub design, the Västerås Travel Center in Sweden, is expected for 2025.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NWPCA today announced a significant victory for wooden pallet manufacturers worldwide following the finalization of the European Union’s (EU) Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). NWPCA’s successful advocacy efforts secured an exemption from the regulation’s reuse requirements for wooden pallets entering and leaving the EU under load. The PPWR aims to tackle the pressing issue of packaging waste by introducing rules for all packaging placed on the EU market. Key objectives of the regulation include reducing packaging waste through recycling and reuse initiatives. As wood is a natural and fully recyclable material, NWPCA fully supported the PPWR’s aims to reduce waste and promote recycling. However, concerns arose regarding the prioritization of reusability over recyclability and the interpretation and implementation of the pallet reuse requirements, which posed a significant challenge to manufacturers and stakeholders.

Naked Sprout has disputed the results of an investigation that found its bamboo toilet roll to contain just 4% bamboo. In a report published this month, consumer watchdog Which? tested toilet rolls from five brands that were claimed to be made solely of bamboo [November 2023]. It used a TAPPI T 401 test, which breaks down a sample of paper into its constituent fibres, and found that three of the five rolls tested contained “low or very low levels of bamboo-like grass fibres”. Bazoo was found to contain 26.1% bamboo fibres, while Naked Sprout was found to contain just 4% bamboo. Bumboo toilet rolls were found to contain the lowest proportion of bamboo of the five brands, at just 2.7%. The toilet rolls in question were “mainly composed of virgin hardwoods”, such as eucalyptus and acacia, the Which? report alleged. Toilet tissue from Cheeky Panda and Who Gives A Crap (WGAC), meanwhile, contain 100% bamboo as claimed.

Additional coverage in BNN Bloomberg (may require a subscription to open), by Olivia Rudgard: Some Bamboo Toilet Paper Contained Very Little Bamboo, Tests Find

Bjarke Ingels Group and A+ Architects have revealed the design for the 12,000-square-meter Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub in Toulouse, France. The project will expand the functionality of the city’s central station, Gare Matabiau, strengthening the area’s public transport networks by creating a hub for bus, railway, and metro, all connected under one roof. The design of the new hub takes cues from the city’s distinctive roofscape and the traditional use of the rose-colored “foraine” brick, employing a mass timber structure and low-carbon concrete to ensure a sustainable intervention adapted to its environment. The Hub is set to begin construction in 2026. …Built mainly in mass timber, the hub’s structure gradually rises from its main entrance in the south, reaching a maximum height of 32 meters towards the rail tracks. This shape encourages visual connections across floors, allows natural daylight to enter the building’s lowest levels, and helps travelers to easily navigate the space.

The Royal Institute of British Architects launched RIBA Horizons 2034, a four-part insight-gathering programme that highlights global trends of the near future. The Environmental Challenge is that different sectors of the built environment will have to work together to achieve the kind of sustainable outcomes the planet needs. Architecture and the tree professions can play a huge role in shaping the future. Specifying timber in construction to bring down your embodied carbon tally is just one aspect of the bigger sustainability picture that should be considered. Without any knowledge of the stewardship of the forest from where the timber was sourced, for instance, how can an architect be sure that their timber choices are producing genuinely positive outcomes at the forest level? There is a growing movement among construction professionals and clients that specifiers need to know far more about the sustainable credentials of their materials, and the focus of attention is timber.

Our planet is faced with both an environmental crisis and a housing crisis. There is, however, a sector that is overlooked as a viable, renewable and long-term solution to climate change and urbanisation. …less than 1% of new South African houses use timber as the primary construction material. By comparison, some 90% of new houses in New Zealand are made of timber. As a sector trying to promote the adoption of mass timber, we are faced with a long-held belief that brick-and-mortar is the only way to build homes, schools and clinics. There are many misconceptions, not least of which are strength, durability, fire safety, and cost.  Mass timber uses technological advancements to engineer wood to have a stronger strength-to-weight ratio. …It’s been said that wood isn’t manufactured, it grows. From a South African perspective, the wood is sourced from sustainably managed tree plantations.