wood Archives - Page 6 of 8

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

Diagonal White Pine Paneling Gives a Fresh Look to Maine Cottage

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Diagonally installed wood paneling can be a fresh, visually interesting, modern update on the warm, cozy wood-lined look. The lines create a sense of movement, making a room feel more dynamic than it would with horizontal or vertical paneling. In this case, it was installed in a gorgeous green cottage getaway on an island 20 miles off the coast of Maine.

Designed for a journalist and retired professor, who has owned the lot on this off-grid island for years, the cottage has lots of floor-to-ceiling windows to take advantage of the views of both the forest and the sea. Most of the construction work on the home was done without the aid of power tools. (See more photos at Dwell.)

Want to get this look in your home? Wood paneled walls have made a big comeback in recent years, so there are plenty of inspirational projects online that’ll give you ideas of your own. Check out a gallery of diagonal paneling at Houzz.com, which features everything from dark and dramatic focus walls in a living room to modern bathroom installations.

Trend Watch: Under-Finished Wood Products More Popular Than Ever

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Even as the world around us gets more and more high-tech and ultramodern design pushes synthetic materials and surfaces, consumers are quietly returning to the comfort and natural beauty of barely-finished wood. The Woodworking Network notes a trend of rustic wood treatments in a range of products, including decor and furniture.

Wood products are often left in an almost entirely natural state to foster a connection with the trees from which they came, and add an organic, handcrafted feel to any setting. Many woodworkers leave the edges of wood raw, lightly stain or seal it instead of painting it, add distressed finishes or reclaim previously used wood.

Just browse the handmade goods marketplace Etsy.com to get a sense of the possibilities. Crafters offer everything from salvaged signs and tree-slice candle holders to hand-turned wooden bowls and large-scale furniture. The beauty of rustic wood is that it’s equally at home in virtually any interior design style, including country, cabin, cottage, contemporary and modern settings

Photos: Rachael Towne, YeWoodSmyth

This Week in Wood: Earthquake Resistant Wooden House Design

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

A new way of building houses, developed by Japanese architect Kiyoshi Kasai, uses no pillars, contains lots of built-in storage and is seismically resistant. ‘Wooden Box 212’ solves two big problems in designing houses for Japan: tiny lots, and the constant risk of damaging earthquakes. This design uses wood almost exclusively, but enables large spaces free of columns and partitions.

Dense trusses clad with wood make up sturdy, seismic-resistant shear walls along the sides of the building, so the front and rear can be designed as desired with lots of glass for natural light and whatever architectural details the homeowner desires.

The trusses are ganged together in a series and clad with structural plywood so that lateral motion is spread along many components, which are able to maintain their integrity. The entire structure can be made from 2×12 lumber, including both columns and beams. Any cut-offs are used to create shelving, virtually eliminating waste.

The result is a contemporary home with an open feel and tons of shelving and niches for decor and personal belongings. See lots more photos at Core 77.

Builders of World’s Tallest Skyscrapers Plan 42-Story Wood High-Rise

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Yet another vision for the future of architecture sees not concrete and steel but wood as a primary sustainable material for even the tallest of skyscrapers. Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has embarked on the Timber Tower Research Project, a design for a 42-story tower that would be the tallest structure ever made of wood. It would be constructed using ‘mass timber products’ including cross-laminated timber and mixes of wood species in the mass timbers.

SOM are the builders behind the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) of Chicago, One World Trade Center and other super-tal structures. Their plans would use a small amount of concrete in the form of beams for added support at the most highly stressed locations of the structure: the connecting joints.

According to the architects, “this system plays to the strengths of both materials and allows the engineer to apply sound tall building engineering fundamentals. The result is believed to be an efficient structure that could compete with reinforced concrete and steel while reducing the carbon footprint by 60 to 75%.”

Previously, architect Michael Green produced an instruction manual on wooden skyscrapers to encourage other architects and builders to consider the use of wood more often. A contest called Timber in the City challenges students to use wood as a main material for tall structures, and some multi-story complexes made almost entirely of wood have already started to pop up around the world.

Carbon-Neutral Woodcube Building Made Without Steel or Glue

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Wood is starting to steal steel’s thunder. The latter’s popularity has fallen out of favor in recent years for large building projects, and the argument that it’s more sustainable than wood is questionable, to say the least. Now, structures and tower concepts made entirely of wood are proving that this natural, renewable material is more versatile than many people have imagined. Woodcube, a 5-story carbon-neutral apartment block in Germany, is one notable example.

Woodcube, by German architectural firm Architekturagentur, is made almost entirely of wood, with the exception of just a few parts like fixtures and the elevator shaft. It was built without glue or chemical treatment of any kind for a high-performance result that’s not just aesthetically pleasing, but also easier to recycle.

The 16,000-square-foot building contains eight residential units, and everything inside including beams and diving walls was made out of wood. Wooden dowels hold the various components together, resulting in thick, strong, naturally insulated walls that eliminate the need for toxic materials.

Wood is gaining traction as an attractive and environmentally responsible addition to modern architecture, showing up in beautifully carved exterior facades that provide shade and privacy, lowering a building’s energy consumption and adding visual interest. It’s also the focus of a new movement for sustainable super-structures, starting with a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.