by Web Editor | Nov 21, 2016 | News
WoodWorks, a proponent of large-scale wood construction in the U.S., launched an updated version of its free carbon calculator, adding more options for buildings made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) and other mass timber products. The addition reflects rising interest in large scale wood building construction.
WoodWorks, which receives finding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as timber companies and forest products manufacturers, promotes use of wood products as a means to store carbon, instead of building materials such as cement and steel that require fossil fuel energy to manufacture, a move that can help reduce greenhouse gases.
“The carbon calculator is a useful tool for building owners and designers who’d like to gain insight on the environmental value of alternate designs,” said Bill Parsons, Senior National Director of the Architectural & Engineering Solutions Team at WoodWorks. “It also provides information that allows them to express the carbon benefits of their wood building projects.”
To calculate the carbon benefits of a wood building, users access the carbon calculator at www.woodworks.org/carbon-calculator and enter nominal wood volume information. The calculator then estimates:
• How much time it takes U.S. and Canadian forests to grow that volume of wood
• The amount of carbon sequestered in the wood products, and
• Greenhouse gas emissions avoided by not using more fossil fuel-intensive materials.
• It also uses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator to equate the total carbon benefit to number of cars off the road and home operational energy.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/free-carbon-calculator-shows-how-much-co2-wood-construction-saves?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Sep 23, 2015 | News
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, in partnership with the Softwood Lumber Board and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, recently announced the winners of the U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize Competition. The two winning development teams were granted a combined $3 million in funding to support the development of tall wood demonstration projects in New York and Portland, Oregon.
At a press conference hosted in New York this morning, Secretary Vilsack congratulated the competition winners. “The U.S. wood products industry is vitally important as it employs more than 547,000 people in manufacturing and forestry, with another 2.4 million jobs supported by U.S. private forest owners,” said Vilsack. “By embracing the benefits of wood as a sustainable building material, these demonstration projects have the ability to help change the face of our communities, mitigate climate change and support jobs in rural America. I look forward to seeing how these two buildings help lead the way in furthering the industry.”
Next-generation lumber and mass timber products are becoming the latest innovation in building. Innovative new technologies and building systems have enabled longer wood spans, taller walls, and higher buildings, and continue to expand the possibilities for wood use in construction. Mass timber wood products are flexible, strong, and fire resistant, and can be used as a safe and sustainable alternative to concrete, masonry, and steel. Using wood helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by storing carbon and simultaneously offsetting emissions from conventional building materials.
Wood can also help struggling rural forest communities. During the Recession, the drop in new construction and decline in home remodeling had a deep impact on wood manufacturing. However, if next-generation wood products can penetrate just five to fifteen percent of the non-residential North American market, it would mean roughly 0.8 – 2.4 billion board feet of lumber consumed annually. To put that in real-world context, roughly 35 jobs are created for each million board feet of wood processed.
The two winning proposals – Framework and 475 West 18th – were selected by a panel of distinguished jurors in the architecture and engineering fields who are familiar with innovative wood building systems. While each took a unique approach, both projects met the Competition’s criteria to showcase the safe application, practicality and sustainability of a minimum 80-foot structure that uses mass timber, composite wood technologies and innovative building techniques.
From the USDA: https://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2015/09/0259.xml
