sustainability Archives - Page 9 of 13

Charming Vermont-Made, Ready-to-Ship Eastern White Pine Cottages

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

The beautiful and impeccably crafted small structures built by the Jamaica Cottage Shop can function as play houses, freestanding backyard offices, sheds, bunk houses or simply extra living space. All of the designs are hand made in Vermont using native rough-sawn, full-dimensioned lumber grown, harvested and milled within the region – including siding made of kiln-dried Eastern White Pine.

You can get anything from a basic cabin or cute cottage with a mini front porch to a screened-in Florida Room, which offers an insect-free outdoor getaway. These little buildings are available in three forms: kits, plans, or fully assembled.

If you live in the Northeast, having a fully assembled building shipped right to your door is a convenient option, while those who live farther away can follow a set of detailed step-by-step instructions to either assemble the shipped parts, or use the plans to have their own materials procured locally.

Putting together an 8×10 Vermont cabin takes just about 20 hours, and can be done at any skill level. The precut lumber package includes pre-dimensioned siding, precut roofing sections, trim, windows and ready-to-install doors. Some kits even include vintage 1800s factory salvaged windows. Check out the whole selection at Jamaica Cottage Shop.

This Week in Wood: U.S. Forest Service Creates Wood-Based Nanomaterial

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

Nanomaterials – which can be 100,000 times thinner than a strand of hair – are increasingly the basis of innovative products producing amazing advancements in fields like technology and medicine. But these materials are so tiny, there are concerns about the effects they could have on human health and the environment. They can be found in everything from sunscreen to lumber, and they’re set to make a big impact on the construction industry for applications like ultra-durable concrete and self-cleaning windows.

The U.S. Forest Service is working on a project that could be a major step forward for greener, more sustainable nanomaterials. For the past three years, researchers at the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) have been developing cellulose nano-crystals made from wood fibers.

These fibers offer incredible strength equivalent to that of Kevlar, and they’re also surprisingly clear so they can be used for applications like composite windshields and other forms of reinforced glass.

“There are ways to engineer materials in advance to make them environmentally benign,” says Pedro Alvarez, the co-author of a study on the potential risks of nanomaterials. “There are also methods that allow us to consider the entire lifecycle of a product and to ensure that it can be recycled or reused rather than thrown away. The key is to understand the specific risks and implications of the product before it it is widely used.”

Eastern White Pine Beach House by Woodhouse Timber Frame

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

The knots of Eastern White Pine are given center stage in this stunning beach house by Pennsylvania-based company Woodhouse Timber Frame. Different grades of this sustainable softwood have varying degrees of knots, ranging from the ultra-smooth and virtually knot-free to wood that’s bursting with rustic character.

Eastern White Pine is a popular choice for timber frame buildings because it’s strong for its weight, grows tall enough to produce unusually long timbers spanning as much as twenty feet across, easy to work with, affordable and good for the environment.

Every timber frame home Woodhouse designs is unique, tailored to the needs and desires of the client. Woodhouse was founded as a passive solar design company so eco-friendliness is an integral part of the building process. Clients can integrate passive solar design principals into their homes, and choose environmentally friendly insulation.

The company’s timber suppliers utilize managed forest resources for timber production according to sustainable forestry methods. Many builders of timber frame homes offer sustainable Eastern White Pine as an option.

Certified Sustainable Children’s Museum Shows Off Beauty of Eco Wood

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

The Hands-On Children’s Museum of Olympia, Washington demonstrates the starring role that sustainable wood can take in modern eco-friendly construction. A partnership between McGraw Hill Construction and Hull Architects, the new 57,000-square-foot complex on the downtown waterfront achieved LEED Silver certification and features wood siding certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI.)

In addition to certified sustainable wood, the green features of the museum include reclaimed water, brownfield redevelopment, protection of restored habitat, water-efficient landscaping, low-emitting materials, lots of daylighting and a co-generation project that uses waste methane to heat and cool the museum.

Since it opened in 2011, the museum has become a model for seamlessly blending top-quality materials and functionality with environmental responsibility. A new wave of green construction in recent years demonstrates the versatility and sustainability of responsibly grown, harvested and processed wood, which is much less energy-intensive to manufacture than most other building materials.

The green building movement has driven a boom in sustainable forestry, leading many landowners to switch to earth-friendly practices not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes financial sense.

Forest Facts: U.S. Joins International Effort to Fund Sustainable Forestry

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

The United States has joined Norway and the United Kingdom to pledge a combined $280 million toward sustainable forestry in an effort to slow the effects of climate change. The initiative, managed by the BioCarbon Fund, will establish environmentally friendly tracts of forest in a wide variety of regions around the world, and expand forest protection technologies and climate-smart agriculture.

Announced during an event at the United Nations climate summit in Warsaw, the new initiative comes just after a report revealed that our planet has lost an area the size of Western Europe to deforestation over the last decade. That’s not just a problem for wildlife and the communities in which the forests are lost; deforestation speeds up climate change.

One of the crucial components of a climate-friendly sustainable forestry system is establishing new markets for timber. That’s part of the effort that will take place in Oromia, a region that contains 60 percent of Ethiopia’s forests. As demand for sustainable forest products increases, incentives to manage forests responsibly do, too.

“The fate of the climate, forests, and agriculture are bound together. If agriculture and land-use change continue to produce up to 30 percent of global greenhouse gases, it will mean further disaster and disruption from climate change”, said Rachel Kyte, the World Bank’s vice president of sustainable development. “That’s why the new BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes it so important. Its grants and results-based financing aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the land sector, through REDD+, climate-smart agriculture practices and land-use planning.”
Image: Geoff Gallice

This Week in Wood: More Furniture Makers Choosing Sustainable Supplies

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Large furniture suppliers are increasingly seeking sustainable certification for their materials, including responsibly grown and harvested wood. Haworth Inc., a Michigan-based manufacturer of office and contract furniture, has pledged to source all of the woods used in its products from sustainably managed forests by the end of 2015, and Ethan Allen Furniture has completed registration for Sustainable by Design, a program that helps companies establish standards, practices and management systems for their own environmental performance and that of their suppliers.

Ethan Allen, a chain with nearly 300 stores across the U.S., UK and Canada, was required to establish goals and a system for evaluating annual improvements in supply chain management, using eco-friendly materials, global climate impact and social responsibility. Part of the eco-friendly materials component is purchasing certified lumber.

Haworth, a privately held company with $1.31 billion in annual sales, says that it expects its vendors to have third-party certification from groups like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). About 86 percent of Haworth’s wood was sourced from controlled managed forests this year.

A number of large wood products organizations like the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association, the American Home Furnishings Alliance and the Business & Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association offer programs that set standards and targets for greener products.

Image via: Sustainable Forestry Initiative