A standard has finally been approved for CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber), a new structural wood product that can be used either as a wall or as a slab. From the APA press release: ANSI/APA PRG 320-2011 Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber, a new standard for cross-laminated timber (CLT), was approved for publication last month by by [...]

Some amazing wood carvings of “melting” wood: “SOUS TITRE” EXHIBITION / DURAMEN SERIAL on the Behance Network

Great promotional video on why using wood is indeed good for the environment: (via Go Wood)

Admittedly this is a bit of a strange question to ask. However, when you are considering using wood products in your buildings, this question might come up in discussions – especially when clients think about resource depletion issues. As it turns out, the entire amount of wood required for a 50,000 s.f. hotel in the [...]

I finally got around to downloading the raw image data from a webcam that I installed in the backyard. My original plan was that I could assemble them into a time-lapse video all the way through the snowstorm. As it turned out, we lost power for two days and – for two more days – [...]

The recent snowstorm was not just about downed trees, power outages and other minor or major inconveniences. It also created quite beautiful landscapes. Here’s my selection of some of my images/paintings showing local scenes. If you want any of these as prints, feel free to go to my gallery on Imagekind.

Although the year is by no means over at the time of this posting (November 1st), I am sincerely hoping that this is the extent of tree damage that we’ll see around here (in Western Massachusetts) in 2011. Compared to past years, it surely has been a bad year for (particularly urban) trees. This post [...]

A good friend of ours, Jim Taggart from Vancouver, BC, just completed a beautiful new book on wood architecture with the visionary title ”Towards a Culture of Wood Architecture”. It features various modern examples of enlightening architecture in wood but also presents traditional buildings that illustrate the foundations of this culture. All are elaborately illustrating a recent trend [...]

Only 10 days left for early registration! Also check out our updated speaker list and the details on AIA/PDH credits. Join us this September for the 2011 Symposium on Wood Engineering, Architecture and Construction at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Presentations will cover passivehouse technology, environmental benefits of using wood and new, innovative wood building [...]

We now have the symposium website and the registration up and running – feel free to browse it and make sure you tell all your colleagues about it. The 2011 Wood Structures Symposium will be an exciting venue with experts from the University of Innsbruck in Austria presenting on Passivehouse construction and Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) [...]