Wood's New Wave

Wood derived from responsibly managed forests is gaining traction among eco-friendly designers as the preferred building material primarily because the source is renewable and greatly offsets a project's initial carbon footprint.

Unlike steel and concrete, both of which generate varying amounts of carbon during production, trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere as they grow and permanently sequester it in their fibers unless they rot or burn. Concurrently, advances in software and manufacturing technologies, coupled with innovative assembly techniques, are making it technically possible to quickly and economically design and build iconic shapes and large-scale buildings with wood-based products. Europe and, more recently, Canada are leading the way, but proponents believe that the approach will become more widespread as manufacturers ramp up production capability and building officials reassess outdated codes. The caveat is that the wood must be sourced from responsibly managed forests. “We are not talking about clear-cutting,” stresses Peter Busby, managing director of the San Francisco office of Perkins+Will. He notes that the relatively recent increase in availability of sustainably harvested woods at reasonable prices makes environmentally minded practitioners feel more comfortable about specifying wood today.

Perkins+Will developed a highly organic design based on a native orchid for the new visitor center at the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver.

Resource Management

Because natural lumber is limited in size, and the long-term preservation of our forests is yet another environmental priority, architects working on larger projects are increasingly turning to engineered-wood products to obtain the structural dimensions they need while lowering a building's carbon footprint.

According to Karsh, it can take hundreds of years for a tree to grow large enough to supply solid-wood timber for traditional post-and-beam construction, whereas it takes about 40 years for a tree to supply the 2x6s that are typically used to manufacture glue-laminated timber, or glu-lam, an engineered-wood product that has been on the market for decades. And it takes only about 10 to 15 years to grow the trees used to produce wood chips for laminated-strand lumber (LSL), another common engineered product. When the life cycle of timber production is shortened, our forests become more productive. “If we manage our forests responsibility, which includes generating products that have a shorter renewal period, we don't risk depleting our forests,” states Karsh.

Engineered woods have many other benefits as well, notes Nabih Tahan, chief sustainable officer of CREE Buildings in San Francisco. For example, they can be manufactured to desired performance standards; are very stable, so they will not twist or shrink; and can be cut to very fine tolerances so components will fit together exactly in the field.

Looking Ahead

Proponents of large-scale wood construction cite outdated building codes as one of the biggest barriers to this new approach. Most codes limit the height of wood-constructed buildings out of concerns about fire. But these codes were written primarily with stick-frame construction in mind; that functions very differently than mass-timber construction in a fire. While thin wood members will burn quickly, the exterior of massive timber will burn for a bit but then create a layer of char that insulates the remaining interior wood from damage. Furthermore, many of today's fire codes were written decades ago, before fire sprinklers and computer-controlled fire-monitoring systems were developed. “Those advances change how we look at fire,” notes Karsh. Practitioners working on large-scale wood projects in Canada indicate that they must currently provide equivalency reports to satisfy the code, but Karsh believes that will likely change with the next iteration of Canada's National Building Code, scheduled for 2015.

Another barrier, at least in North America, is a shortage of manufacturers. According to Podesto of Woodworks, only three companies make structural-grade CLT in Canada, and none in the United States.

But Karsh is not deterred, noting that it took decades for steel and concrete to evolve into the modern systems we use today. “Modern wood construction is 100 to 120 years behind. Only in the last 20 years have we developed it into a truly modern construction material.” He believes the product will become more sustainable in the years ahead. “The idea of building high-rise timber may seem crazy now, but it won't in five to 10 years.”

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article by Nancy B. Solomon, AIA from Architectural Record. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

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As the world leader in the industrialization of bamboo, Lamboo is striving to implement Laminated Veneer Bamboo (LVB), a rapidly renewable construction material. Through species selection, patented adhesives, and manufacturing processes Lamboo is able to create bamboo panels and components that far exceed traditional timber's performance in nearly every aspect.

Bamboo as a resource is unmatched in its potential as a environmentally friendly and structurally stable building material. Bamboo produces 30% more oxygen and sequesters 35% more carbon than a like sized timber forest area. With a growth rate of 6-8 years to maturity and root structure that eliminates the need for replanting bamboo can be produced on a large scale with much more ease than timber forests cutting costs and limiting energy consumption. Testing and forecasting by experts has led to Bamboo being referred to as "the next super material" due to it’s amazing attributes and resiliency.

Lamboo Structural Component

 

Learn more about Lamboo

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For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
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“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Rebound in U.S. Green Building Materials Market

U.S. demand to post double-digit gains through 2017

Through 2017, a rebound in construction activity, combined with continuing consumer interest in environmentally friendly products, will propel US growth in green building materials demand 11 percent annually to $86.6 billion. US construction activity declined sharply during much of the 2007-2012 period, but demand for green building materials held its own, boosted by consumer interest in products that could reduce utility bills or promote environmentally friendly construction practices. For instance, homeowners installed ENERGY STAR-certified windows and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to lower energy costs and reduce energy consumption. 

Builders, architects coming to grips with LEED system

For purposes of this study, green building materials are defined as those products that can be used to earn credits toward certification in any of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems extant as of February 2013. These materials do not necessarily have to be installed in buildings where LEED accreditation is being sought to be considered green materials. Over the forecast period, builders and architects will increasingly opt to earn high levels of LEED certification by specifying the use of materials that earn LEED points. Lumber harvested in a sustainable manner can contribute to LEED certification, and is forecasted to exhibit demand gains.

Details on these and other findings are contained in Green Building Materials, an upcoming Freedonia industry study available for $5100. It presents historical demand data for 2002, 2007 and 2012, as well as forecasts for 2017 and 2022 by product, market, and region of the US.

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article from Herald Online. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)
 
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Lamboo, Laminated Veneer Bamboo (LVB), is an ultra renewable alternative to traditional building materials. Produced from one of the most rapidly replenishing and environmentally friendly plants in the world, bamboo, Lamboo can be used as a replacement for depleting building resources. To learn more about the superior attributes of Lamboo, please visit our Product Information Page for additional information. LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following: MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material) ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact) FSC Certification - Available Upon Request Learn more about our certifications here.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

‘Green’ Buildings Gaining Status

The commercial real estate construction and investment philosophy that places a premium on location and quality is giving way to interest in sustainable design, according to market analysts. A focus on ‘green’ development, particularly with refurbishment efforts and new construction of iconic buildings in New York City, is drawing more attention to the benefits of an eco-friendly focus that include lower operating costs and long-term savings as energy prices rise. Investors are now looking to build green portfolios, which is also encouraging more builders to lean in that direction. For more on this continue reading the following article from National Real Estate Investor.

Sustainable buildings result in lower operating costs, not to mention long-term savings as the cost of energy continues to rise. Many real estate scions are building green—think of the Durst Organization’s Bank of America Tower in New York City and One World Trade Center, which is being co-developed by Durst and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—as well as retrofitting green—most famously, Malkin Properties’ newly refurbished Empire State Building.

So it isn’t surprising that some investors and real estate firms are starting to focus on amassing green portfolios. But when will sustainability become as standard a criterion as location and quality in U.S. investors’ acquisitions? According to many within the industry, thanks to a growing awareness of green as well as several benchmarking programs, that day is almost here.

Many public pension funds and some private pension funds are interested in being environmentally responsible, says Real Capital Analytics Managing Director Dan Fasulo. But “the only real green buildings are brand new buildings built to the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. While these buildings are becoming more common, especially in the major markets, it’s still very uncommon for them to be up for sale.”

 
On a green mission

One investor that’s got a green investment thesis is 5 Stone Green Capital LLC, an organization founded in 2010 in New York City by Doug Lawrence and Lewis Jones, both former JP Morgan managing directors with 34 years of experience between them. The firm is on a mission not only to amass a green multifamily portfolio but to have a positive social impact.

“We have a very simple demographic model,” says Lawrence. “If there are going to be 9 billion people on the planet in 2050, you’ve got to feed them, house them, find them work and they’re going to need more energy.”

5 Stone targets investors who have an interest in green projects and products, including large and small companies, endowments and foundations. “We’ve identified broadly what we call ‘impact investors’—it’s a whole category that we want to tap into,” says Jones.

The firm’s mission is to provide a “triple bottom line” to its investors, says Lawrence. “Our investment thesis provides immediate value creation—by our energy efficiency, sustainable design, lower consumption levels of energy and use of technology, we reduce operating expenses and capital expenditures.”

Bring on the benchmarks

Early on in the USGBC’s LEED rating program, launched in 1998, “investors were seeking so-called green funds,” says Gary Holtzer, global sustainability officer with global real estate firm Hines, “Now it is generally accepted that development will be green and that the best-in-class managers will pursue a sustainable course. The good news is that sustainability is increasingly becoming a baseline, and those that do not pursue this path will suffer a ‘brown discount.’”

Europe’s Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) rating system is also pushing investors toward green buildings. The system is used by investors to determine the sustainability of properties they are acquiring. An external group rates the funds for potential investors.

“At the bottom level, you’re being required to demonstrate your energy efficiency in the marketplace and at the top level funds are being evaluated based on a number of characteristics, so building users are seeing the push toward sustainability from both sides,” Pogue says. “Do users care about this? More and more we’re seeing this is true.”

At press time, yet another benchmark, the FTSE NAREIT USGBC Green Real Estate Index, was about to be launched. The product of collaboration between the economic indexing firm FTSE Group, NAREIT and the USGBC, the indices, which so far include 78 publicly traded REITs, will provide investors with a credible set of criteria for identifying an environmentally responsible property using constantly updated data that goes back to 2008. The methodology utilizes both LEED and Energy Star designations. All information is validated by a third party.
 
Many green drivers

The shift toward sustainability began in earnest with the Government Services Administration (GSA) requiring LEED Silver certification for all new construction federal lease properties of more than 10,000 sq. ft. In 2011, the GSA upped its requirements by requiring projects funded prior to 2010 to be LEED Gold certified. With a portfolio of over 361 million sq. ft. of space in 9,600 federally owned and leased facilities, according to the GSA Web site, the GSA has significantly influenced the trend toward LEED.

“The GSA was an important early adopter because, with very long-term occupants toward perpetuity, this was a pretty big demonstration of what LEED can do,” says David Lynn, executive vice president and chief investment strategist with Cole Real Estate Investments. “But I don’t think the demonstration factor is so important anymore. I think everyone has got religion at this point. People thought it wouldn’t catch on in triple net lease buildings, but it’s even catching on there, too. Major investors see LEED as the future going forward.”

Today the drive toward green investment is being driven largely by multinational corporations, says Dan Probst, Jones Lang LaSalle’s chairman of energy and sustainability services and a founding member of its global environmental sustainability board. He says JLL’s large corporate clients—such as Bank of America, Proctor & Gamble, HSBC and Yahoo—“are very progressive on the environmental front; they’ve had strong focus for a long time on improving the buildings that they own and in which they house their employees.”

(Excerpt of article by Susan Piperato of NuWire Investor . NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

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In this new era of green construction the industry will have to search and develop innovative practices and materials to replace traditional forms that are no longer sustainable. Bamboo is an example of one of these new ultra renewable resources that will be looked towards as a solution.

Bamboo as a resource is unmatched in its potential as a environmentally friendly structurally stable renewable building material. Bamboo produces 30% more oxygen and sequesters 35% more carbon than a like sized timber forest area. With a growth rate of 6-8 years to maturity (compared to timber 25-50) and root structure that eliminates the need for replanting bamboo can be produced on a large scale with much more ease than timber forests cutting costs and limiting energy consumption. Learn more about the amazing attributes of bamboo here.

LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration. Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following: MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material) ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact) FSC Certification - Available Upon Request Learn more about our certifications here.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

 Blog by: Dustin Dennison

From "Light Green" to Sustainable Buildings

As more people move to urban areas in search of economic opportunities, the number of buildings that are needed to house them continues to rise. It is estimated that by 2030, an additional 1.4 billion people will live in cities, of which 1.3 billion will dwell in cities of developing countries. The increasing number of buildings has long-term impacts on both the environment and natural resources. Fortunately, a variety of policy tools hold promise for promoting sustainability in buildings, according to Kaarin Taipale, contributing author of the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity.

The buildings in which we live and work are a major consumer of energy, responsible for some 30—40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, a similar share of total solid waste, and 12 percent of all fresh water used. With the rate of urbanization reaching record levels, there will be more construction and buildings than ever before.

The introduction and enforcement of effective public policies can be the cheapest and most efficient method for promoting sustainability in the construction and use of buildings, Taipale says. The goal is to radically reduce buildings' environmental footprint and long-term negative social and financial effects.

In search of a "best policy" in her State of the World 2012 chapter, "From Light Green to Sustainable Buildings," Taipale suggests considering four dimensions in a policy package:

Process. It is important to take into account the entire life-cycle of a building, from design and construction to its use and demolition. Some posit that designating a sustainability coordinator for the planning and construction period should be a requirement for any building permit. An additional tool for the time span when the building is being used is a mandatory "maintenance diary," documenting the various ways the building is serviced and renovated.

Performance. What matters most is how well the entire building performs, not how its individual parts might adhere to requirements. Setting minimum energy performance standards, for example, makes more sense than specifying the thickness of a thermal insulation. A growing set of core criteria has evolved by which to measure building performance in terms of resource use. These consider greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water use, and waste production, among others. Policies can require that certain minimum performance standards and benchmarks be met.

Sustainable Infrastructure. Buildings need efficient infrastructures that save resources and provide everyone equal access to basic services such as fresh water and sanitation, energy, communication, and public transport. The quality of these infrastructures determines the level of urban sustainability. National water legislation, for example, can help secure access to safe drinking water for urban residents for a fair price.

Resource Use. Sustainability of resource use considers financial, human, and natural resources. Shifting toward a greater reliance on renewable energy is the most efficient method to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate climate change. Such a shift also helps reduce local air pollution and health hazards. We need higher energy performance requirements for new construction and refurbishment, however, because it does not make much sense to waste renewable energy in buildings that are not energy efficient.

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article by Environmental News Network . NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)
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Lamboo Technologies' manufacturing processes use 15% less embodied energy than that of engineered wood, and 300% less embodied energy than aluminum and steel. Lamboo, on average, is 20% more stable than wood in moisture and temperature changes, 10 times stronger than wood in tension and 3 times stronger mechanically. Additionally bamboo produces 30% more oxygen than a like-sized timber forest while sequestering 35% more carbon and only requires 6-8 years to reach maturity. All of these outstanding attributes make bamboo a great resource for the construction industry.

LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration.

Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following:

• MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials
• IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials
• ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design
  (Environmentally Preferable Material)
• ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design
  (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact)
• FSC Certification - Available Upon Request

Learn more about our certifications here.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

WORLDBEX - The Philippine World Building and Construction Exposition

For more than a decade, WORLDBEX or The Philippine World Building and Construction Exposition has been a haven for the local and international building and construction industry, supported by acknowledged sectors of society and a visitor profile of more than 150,000 per year, it is dubbed to be Asia’s most attended construction exposition.

WORLDBEX holds a good number of global ties with countries such as Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, China, Finland, Hong Kong, the U.S. and Germany to name a few of the 25 participating countries, it is an ideal venue for business transactions and introduction of innovations.

WORLDBEX is known for putting together over 500 exhibiting companies and more than a thousand booths in a Wi-Fi ready exhibit area of 30,000 sq/m. These companies range from building materials equipment services, construction design and development, architects and interior designers, and leading manufacturers and furniture exporters. WORLDBEX will also showcase the top colleges and universities in inter-school interior design competition and include the biggest names in the local and international building and construction scene for seminars.

At the show Lamboo will be showcasing the world's most renewable and sustainable construction material, Laminated Veneer Bamboo (LVB), a high performance bamboo product. Representatives will be at booth #S55-S56 to answer any questions attendees may have and to discuss the attributes that make Lamboo a superior product for the construction industry.

To learn more please visit our Sustainability, Research, or Certifications pages. Please visit our Resource Library for product details and specifications!

To remain updated on the latest with Lamboo and the sustainable construction industry please subscribe to this blog via the link at the top right hand corner of this page!

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated