To encourage, recognize and support the creative and innovative use of wood in architectural design, the Idaho Forest Products Commission sponsors a Design With Wood Competition for students from the University of Idaho School of Art and Architecture and Washington State University‘s Architectural Studies Program.
More than 100 students participated in this year’s event! U-Idaho’s Brannon Jordan of Minneapolis was the 2022 winner for his proposed design of the Moscow-Pullman Regional Airport. Jordan took home $500 for the win.
“The most important aspect of this design is the use of mass timber (CLT) in the structure,” explained Jordan. “CLT is such a beautiful material and there are many ways in which this material can be expressed. Not only can you create beautiful and dynamic spaces with a hard material like wood, but it can also foster the environmental change through sustainability that is incredibly important as our world progresses.”
Jordan aspires to work in an architecture firm in Seattle after completing his master’s of architecture and hopes to one day start a company of his own, specializing in designing affordable, residential architecture and off-the-grid cabins that are self-sufficient and sustainable.
In its 11th year, the IFPC Design with Wood Competition seeks to provide hands-on opportunities for architecture students to learn about Idaho forests, sustainable forest management, wood products and manufacturing while fostering learning experiences about the energy efficiency and the environmental and structural benefits of wood.
Speaking of the benefits of wood, here are some facts you might find interesting:
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- Wood is the only major building material derived from a resource that is both sustainable and renewable.
- Trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in wood. As a result, about half the dry weight of wood is carbon, which remains sequestered in wood products used to construct buildings, and helps offset carbon dioxide emissions – a major contributor to global warming.
- About 99 percent of each log processed winds up in a usable product, reducing waste to near zero.
- Wood requires less energy and water to produce than other construction materials.
- Idaho wood products are made from timber that’s harvested sustainably. State forest protection laws mandate prompt replanting after harvest and require landowners to protect wildlife habitat and water quality, ensuring sustainable forests in perpetuity.
Need more proof? Wood Works, a national non-profit that helps developers and design/construction teams bring wood buildings to life, is an excellent resource for free one-on-one project assistance, continuing education, design tools and on-demand resources.
“Every year, 17,000 buildings constructed with other materials could be built with wood,” said Jennifer Cover, President and CEO, WoodWorks, during her testimony to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the US Senate. “In most cases, it costs about the same to build with wood, and yet the environmental benefits are significant. Building with innovative wood products from sustainable, properly managed forests is a relatively easy way to alleviate a sizable amount of U.S. carbon emissions.”
How do we build sustainably and achieve carbon-reduction goals while also meeting the housing and infrastructure needs of a growing population? One answer, says Wood Works, is more wood buildings.