Wood In Living Environment Reduces Stress
Want to lower your stress level? Put more wood in your environment. It turns out that wood is not only a greener building material, it is also a healthier building material for humans.
A study conducted for FPInnovations and UBC by researcher David Fell, has established a link between wood and human health. It has determined that the presence of wood surfaces in a room lowered the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation of test subjects. The SNS is responsible for physiological stress responses in humans. The finding will help make the case for architects and building designers to include more wood in buildings, and particularly in such environments as health-care centres, schools and offices.
UBC Bio-energy Research and Development Project Gets Funding Boost
An additional $11.2 million in funding support was recently announced by the federal and BC governments at a ground-breaking ceremony for the
$27 million UBC Bio-energy Research and Demonstration Project (BRDP).
Using Nexterra’s gasification technology, BRDP will produce two megawatts of electricity – up to 6% of the campus’s average electrical demand – and the heat produced will provide up to 25% of the campus’s steam requirements. The project will be powered by biomass including tree trimmings, wood chips and other urban wood waste diverted from local landfills.
In addition to being the first biomass-fuelled, heat-and-power generation system of its kind in the world, the 4-storey, 1886 m2 facility will be the first North American commercial application of cross-laminated timber (CLT). CLT is a renewable, low-carbon replacement for steel or concrete in multi-storey residential and commercial buildings.
FPInnovations funded the feasibility study to see if use of CLT in this application was feasible, and shared the cost of the design phase with UBC. The building design proposes CLT for the roof, portions of the wall, and for suspended floors and walls inside the building of the lab and office areas.
The facility is expected to open in 2012.
Eastern Ontario Model Forest Partners with FPInnovations to Present Wood Innovations Seminar SeriesEastern Ontario
EOMF, a not-for-profit organization, and FPInnovations recently entered into a partnership with a joint project funded by the Government of Canada’s Community Adjustment Fund. One element of this project involve the production of a seminar series to provide technical guidance and education for the sustainability and growth of the Eastern Ontario wood products industry.
FPInnovations to Participate in the Carrefour Forêt Innovations
Carrefour Forêt Innovations will be held over 3 days this fall (October 4 to 6) at the Centre des congrès de Québec, to coincide with the International Year of Forests. This is a multi-faceted event organized by the Ministère des ressources naturelles et de la faune (MNRF), which will include 15 seminars, 3 workshops, and about 150 booths presented by various commercial organizations and institutes. FPInnovations and the Canadian Wood Fibre Center will be among the exhibitors with thematic booths, and will also be holding several workshops during the event.
Formerly called the Carrefour de la recherche forestière, this is the 8th edition of this event. The change in name reflects a widening of its scope to include the concerns of the entire forest sector, but its principal objective continues to be knowledge transfer among the participants, by fostering exchanges on research and development conducted by industrial, academic and governmental organizations.
Strategic Network Links Current Forest Sector with Future Bio-economy
The journey toward engaging the Canadian forest industry to invest in economically viable technology and products as the bio-economy unfolds is entering a new phase—spearheaded by the establishment of NSERC Strategic Networks focusing on research and technology transfer work.
The Network on Value Chain Optimization is focused on optimizing the forest bio-economy, including integration of traditional and emerging product opportunities.
FPInnovations has been engaged to guide the network’s research program with the intent of achieving greater industry engagement and impact from the university-based research.
FPInnovations’ NOVA Initiative Continues to Support First Nation Initiatives
Starting with initial meetings in March 2010, FPInnovations’ Industry Advisor Percy Champagne has led NOVA* in responding to technical requests from the Whitefeather Forest Management Corporation (WFMC). NOVA’s relationship and work with WFMC and Pikangikum First Nation in support of their development of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative** is an excellent example of how NOVA can work with First Nations communities.
NOVA Initiative Publishes Guide on Building Prefab Houses in Remote Areas
To assist Northern homebuilders in producing cost-effective homes and to educate prospective homeowners in understanding the advantages prefabricated housing can offer, an information brochure prepared by NOVA industry advisor Peter Åsman, entitled Remote Prefab Housing - A basic how-to guide prior to starting your prefabricated wall production, has recently been published*. |
