The Wooden Skyscrapers That Could Help To Cool The Planet

by | May 24, 2017 | News

One building stands out in the old logging town of Prince George, Canada. Encased in a sleek glass facade, the structure towers above most of its neighbors, beckoning from afar with the warm amber glow of Douglas fir. Constructed almost entirely from timber in 2014, the 8-story, 30-meter building is among the tallest modern wooden structures in the world. But it is more than an architectural marvel. As the home of the Wood Innovation and Design Centre at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), it is also an incubator for wooden buildings of the future — and a herald for a movement that could help to tackle global warming.

The building is less like a log cabin and more like a layered cake, constructed from wooden planks glued and pressed together, precision cut by factory lasers and then assembled on site. All told, the university avoided the release of more than 400 tons of carbon dioxide by eschewing energy-intensive concrete and steel, and the building locks up a further 1,100 tons of CO2 that was harvested from the atmosphere by British Columbian trees. In total, that’s enough to offset the emissions from 160 households for a year.

Wooden construction has ancient roots, but only in the past two decades have scientists, engineers and architects begun to recognize its potential to stave off global warming. By substituting concrete and steel with wood from sustainably managed forests, the building industry could curb up to 31% of global carbon emissions, according to research by Chad Oliver, a forest ecologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. In time, such a shift could help humanity to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere, potentially reversing the course of climate change.

“It’s the plywood miracle,” says Christopher Schwalm, an ecologist at Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts. “This is something that could have a significant impact on the riddle that is global environmental change.”

From Nature.com: https://www.nature.com/news/the-wooden-skyscrapers-that-could-help-to-cool-the-planet-1.21992

Report: Wood-Based Panel Market To Exceed $35 Billion By 2023

by | Dec 14, 2016 | News

Wood based panel market size was valued over USD 16 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to grow at CAGR of over 13% and exceed USD 35 billion by 2023.

In 2014, China wood based panel market accounted for more than 50,000 products for manufacturing and trading enterprises, employing more than 10 million workforce and generating an output of USD 155 billion. The utilization by these enterprises exceeds 520 million and the value of exports was USD 75 billion in 2014. However, the sector suffers from a poor image due to quality scandals. In 2015, Italy has recorded gain of 7%, with an optimistic business climate for the third consecutive quarter.

China exported 5.8 million tons of wood based panels which cost around USD 5,813 million in 2014, growing at a CAGR of 15% over the previous year. China trades with the U.S., where it exports around 15% of its total panel, accounting for 55% of the U.S. total imports. One of the challenges that both the North American and European panel makers are facing is the increasing imports from China.

Increasing deforestation has lead towards the global warming which has boosted the demand growth for efficient and effective utilization of timber. This is expected to fuel the industry demand over the forecast period. In addition, technological innovation and advancement along with the mounting efficiency in manufacturing is likely to bolster the demand from 2016 to 2023.

Modernization in infrastructure and rapid industrialization in developing economies of Asia Pacific is likely to be a chief industry driver for the global wood based panel market over the next few years.

From SATPRNews.com: https://satprnews.com/2016/12/13/wood-based-panel-market-size-to-exceed-usd-35-billion-by-2023-global-market-insights-inc/