Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, New England Forestry Foundation and Northern Woodlands are holding a series of 90 minute webinars this winter on Local Wood: Grow, Build, Live . The series will explore examples of how to grow, build, and live with beautiful and sustainable local wood products at different scales—from furniture to homes to institutional buildings.
Participants will hear from presenters about their experiences working with local and regional wood, what role the material and forestry can play in a sustainable economy, and new technologies and applications for wood products that can help mitigate global climate change and spur innovation.
The third webinar in the series, From Forest to Cities will be held on March 17th from 2 to 3:30 pm. In this webinar, participants will learn how engineered wood products allow us to build bigger with wood, and how this new technology is an effective alternative to carbon-intensive concrete and steel construction.
Engineered wood products, also known as mass timber, allow us to build bigger with wood, as an alternative to carbon-intensive concrete and steel construction.
This webinar will highlight a flagship mass timber building in Massachusetts—the John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst. With Dr. Peggi Clouston, Professor of Wood Mechanics and Timber Engineering in the Building and Construction Technology program, as our featured speaker, we will hear about the innovative design and construction of the building, how it functions as a space of education and inspiration for the next generation of builders, and new research on the types of local tree species that can be used for mass timber.
With New England Forestry Foundation Chief Operating Officer Frank Lowenstein, we will then turn to where the raw material for mass timber is typically obtained and the potential for big climate change mitigation benefits when it is generated from Exemplary Forestry practices that are designed to store more carbon in the woods, while continuing to produce renewable wood products.
The webinars are free, but pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, go to https://newenglandforestry.org/connect/events/