Wood: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Tim Keating Earthbilt

Wood has been a nearly-ubiquitous building material since humans began making their shelters and dwellings. For most of human existence on Earth, procurement of wood was opportunistic, low-tech, and limited to what we could transport easily. The creation of cities brought with it the ability to use larger-scale means to procure and transport wood, as well as a greater demand for building materials in general, as human populations grew. Increasing demand and greater access exacerbated imbalanced targeting of specific forest areas and specific tree species and types. New technologies and expanding global trade amplified this trend.

This workshop will explore the sustainability of wood as a building material in general. More specifically, which types of wood — either planted or ‘naturally' growing in ecosystems without human involvement — and which methods of procurement are truly sustainable in terms of the full range of forest ecosystem functioning into the future? What are the real connections between the use of wood and emissions of greenhouse gases and climate change? And what about ‘plantations'?

How can designers tell the difference between “Good Wood” and ‘bad wood'? How do our current aesthetics affect the ugly realities of forest destruction? How do certification systems work (and not work) to assure sustainable procurement and the chain of custody of wood products, and what should designers know to better utilize these systems? What are the best alternatives to some of the ‘worst' woods? What design parameters and specifications can reduce the negative impacts of wood procurement?

With a slide presentation, the presenter will show images of, and discuss: - The chain of custody of woods derived from tropical forest and temperate rainforest logging, from the forest to the end-use and store shelf.

• Common species that are in high-demand for buildings and public and private spaces.
• The benefits, drawbacks and misuses of FSC certification and how specifiers and designers can navigate the pitfalls.
• Sustainable wood options.
• Sustainable alternative materials.

Tim Keating is the founding director of Rainforest Relief, an organization dedicated to reducing rainforest destruction driven by the demand for materials. From 1990 to 2015, Rainforest Relief was focused on reducing the demand for wood derived from logging of old-growth tropical forests and temperate rainforests. Rainforest Relief's campaigns prevented the use of more than ten million board feet of tropical hardwoods. At the organization's helm, Keating became a national authority on how and where tropical hardwoods were being used in the United States, as well as how this demand was driving the degradation of tropical forests. Keating is also founder and principal of Earthbilt, a company focused on shifting demand for wood derived from primary forests to sustainable alternatives.