naturally:wood, a resource of British Columbia’s Forestry Innovation Investment, has released “A Natural Choice: How Wood Contributes to Sustainability’s Triple Bottom Line,” the third CEU course in a three-part series dedicated to examining and comparing the environmental footprint of wood, concrete and steel. Together, the three courses offer architects and specifiers an overview of each material’s performance attributes and explore how wood fits into the overall design of a sustainably built structure.
The three courses comprise:
Designing sustainable buildings requires an understanding of the environmental footprint of each material in the structure. Using research and facts, “Materials Matter” examines the differences between three common building materials—wood, steel and concrete—in terms of their environmental footprint at several stages of the life-cycle process, including raw resource extraction, manufacturing and transportation. Responsible procurement, sustainability and community issues also are discussed.
The second course delves even deeper by exploring how wood, concrete and steel have an environmental impact on building construction, operation and end of life. This article explains the differences between these three materials in terms of basic characteristics and material properties, performance during the building operations phase, and sustainability factors including carbon footprint and material reuse.
By examining how wood contributes to a project’s environmental bottom line, the final course in the series provides a broader view of the meaning of sustainability, while offering specific examples of rating systems and defining green design. BD+C
Related Stories
| Sep 18, 2012
MKK opens office in North Dakota
MKK is currently working on seven projects in North Dakota, including a hotel, restaurant, truck stop, office building, and apartment complex.
| Sep 18, 2012
Firestone Building Products launches new website
Deep product information and innovative customer support tools are highlights.
| Sep 13, 2012
Leo A Daly Company promotes Kraskiewicz to senior vice president
Kraskiewicz, who most recently served as chief operations officer for the Leo A Daly division, will guide brand management, business development, operations and financial performance for 18 offices worldwide.
| Sep 13, 2012
Acentech adds audiovisual expertise to Trevose, Penn. office
Artese focuses on advising, overseeing, and maintaining the client’s vision for the project from the initial kick-off meeting to the final commissioning of the completed systems.
| Sep 13, 2012
Margulies Perruzzi Architects completes office design for Pioneer Investments
MPA updated the office design and additional support space consisting of five floors at Pioneer’s Boston office located at 60 State Street.
| Sep 12, 2012
Harvesting new ways to eliminate waste at the USDA
After installing 20 high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers in restrooms throughout the USDA headquarters; the USDA reports seeing an immediate 50% reduction in the use of paper towels.
| Sep 11, 2012
RTKL appoints Lance Hosey as Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President
Author and authority on green design to spearhead RTKL Performance-driven DesignSM initiative.
| Sep 11, 2012
McQuade appointed CEO of Tishman Construction
McQuade will focus on driving the growth of the company into new markets and expanding market share in its current areas of operation.
| Sep 11, 2012
Ecosystem Management & Associates joins HDR
EM&A staff will do business as part of HDR Engineering and HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction.
| Sep 10, 2012
Specialty door types—plenty of functional variety
In the MasterFormat section 08 30 00, Specialty Doors and Frames, a number of door types are listed for special functions, access locations, sliding and folding hardware, and even pressure-resistant types.