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GBlist: re: Good Wood



As a builder of timber frame and structural insulated panel homes, I would like to add my anecdotal two cents to the discussion.
 
Timber frames use wood. Quite a bit of it, in some circumstances. Us members of the Timber Framer's guild of North America have been concerned about the sustainability of what we do for some time. While I don't pretend to speak for the guild, over the last ten years of my involvement with them, I have seen shifts toward:
€A reduction in the board footage amount of timber used in structures, largely by "hybridizing" construction to use timber only where it has the greatest effect aesthetically AND structurally. Building less visible adjacent areas with structural panels is my personal preference. Increasing spans by using panels structurally is also a favorite trick.   
€Designing structures to last much longer than it took to grow the trees used. 
€Designing structures to be easily disassembled and re-used when their current configuration becomes obsolete.
€Designing structures to be of flexible purpose.  That is to say not building such a narrowly defined style or purpose that evolution or change of purpose requires very material and labor intensive remodeling. EG: use demountable wall partitions, wiring flexability, etc (this is a good idea no matter what material you build from). 
€Minimizing the use of trim lumber, in favor of showing off the frame.
€Re-planting to replace what we've taken. John Abrams likes to tell the story about the centuries old building in England whose original roof timbers needed to be replaced recently. The architects scoured the country looking for oak timber of the size and quality to replace the beams, only to be pointed to the woods in back of the building by the fifth generation caretaker. Seems that the carpenters planted replacement trees several hundred years ago in preparation for this day. 
€Using and encouraging the use of sustained yeild timber.  One of our members, Len Brackett of Nevada City, CA, has been involved with a project in the 'Inimim forest which is a model for sustained yeild of very high quality old growth timber.
€Using timber which has been reclaimed from old mill and factory buildings.  This is frequently very high quality douglas fir, which customers are (sometimes) willing to pay a premium for.
€Re-use of antique frames, as cut, (frequently barns) scheduled for demolition. 

I am also a member of the NAHB. I am consistently disgusted by the "head in the sand" attitude they take. They hide behind "affordability", when what they really mean is "status quo." Whenever I start to question what I do for a living and and it's impact on the world, I need look no further than the tract going up down the street to know that I am way ahead of them in the big picture.  
That's not to say that the way we do things is perfect, by any means. My heart is still troubled by the thought of the trees we do use, and that they surely look better standing in the forest. I am also troubled by the fact that many of the frames we build are too expensive for the majority of the population. We build too many homes for people who can afford "the look", and don't necessarily care about all these other issues. My tack has been to incourage folks to build smaller and more expensive, with more durable and energy efficient materials. This is an uphill battle, here in the land of "trophy houses."
  
Also entering in to the equation is the need to make a living at what we do.  I have seen many idealistic timber framers and builders lose their shirts and go out of business because they insist on thrusting unproven, underdeveloped technologies and ideologies down the throats of unreceptive clients. Can't do much good sitting in bankruptcy court. Change can only happen from within.

Perhaps I am rationalizing. I am happy to receive such criticism. For now, though, I feel pretty good about timbers and panels.
I will be happy to provide those interested with the Guild's position paper on sustained yeild, or additional info on the 'Inimim project.  

Chris Koehn
Top Ridge
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