Materials that are both strong and tough are difficult to find in nature, but a team from the University of Maryland has succeeded in 'densifying' wood to make it stronger than steel - but six times lighter. Read more: Super Wood - Rebekah White for New Zealand Geographic UMD Researchers Create Super Wood Stronger Than [...]
Masterton company Renalls is one of the local cartage companies that transports logs from the Wairarapa forests we manage. In this video, Renalls driver Keith Bennett talks about the benefits of the advanced trailer system which allows load flexibility with their multipurpose self-loading truck.
Merv Jones retiring after 25 years as Customer Services Manager Merv Jones, Forest Enterprises’ long-standing Customer Services Manager, is retiring on 29 June after 25 years in the role. “I am now a couple of years past the ‘official’ retirement age and am looking forward to the other challenges I want to move on to.” [...]
New Zealand eco-timber company - Abodo - designs and produces timber products for construction, from sustainable New Zealand forest plantations. Watch their latest video to learn more about what they do.
The Gisborne District Council was to have formally adopted a Wood First Policy on 5 April, the second local authority in New Zealand to do so. At the Wood Processors & Manufacturers' Regional Meeting on 4 April, Gisborne Mayor Meg Foon acknowledged the lead he had taken from Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick, winner of NZ [...]
Wood is the key to increasing workplace productivity according to a new research report. Workplaces, Wellness and Wood, prepared for Forest & Wood Products Australia by strategic research firm Pollinate and the University of Canberra, provides fresh evidence supporting for biophilia – the principle that exposure to nature increases human well-being. The study found the more [...]
Kiwi/San Fran footwear company, Allbirds shot to fame with their merino wool running shoes. They have unveiled their latest innovation, the 'Tree Collection' – shoes made from eucalyptus fibre. Allbirds' ethos is about sustainable material innovation. When customers told them that wool wasn't as cool as it could be in warm weather, the company set about finding alternative materials to [...]
In Heilbronn, Germany, architects Kaden + Lager are building SKAIO, currently the tallest wood building under construction in Germany at ten floors and 34 metres. It's officially hybrid construction, with stair and elevator core built of reinforced concrete. It is all then clad in aluminum. The wood parts are prefabricated using glulam and cross-laminated timber. One [...]
The capacity to build more quality homes is already within New Zealand, instead of overseas, new research from PrefabNZ shows. This is good news for growers and producers of timber in New Zealand. Instead of shipping in from abroad, the PrefabNZ ‘Capacity & Capability’ report demonstrates that Kiwi-based housing manufacturing firms and construction companies can [...]
Sumitomo Forestry in Japan is venturing into skyscrapers, as the demand for residential homes (its usual market) declines. This industry giant is proposing a 70-storey, 350m tower for Tokyo, called W350. It is a mixed-use building (commercial and residential) with wood inside and out, aiming to replace concrete - one of the world's largest carbon footprint [...]
