Summary Reader Response Draft 2

The article, “Will Pure Wooden High-Rise Building Be a Game Changer for Decarbonisation, Obayashi Corporation’s Challenge” by Clark (2023), examines how Obayashi Corporation employs wooden construction to create competitive buildings with a smaller carbon footprint. 

The Port Plus Obayashi Yokohama Training Centre uses cross laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) as key structural elements. Port Plus stands out for its implementation of rigid cross joints, which binds columns and beams using glued in rods (GIR) and a Japanese carpentry technique known as Nuki (Port Plus, n.d.). Nuki involves sliding a precut section of lumber into another section. Another feature of Port Plus is the use of “O Mega Wood” offering fire resistance and earthquake protection comparable to traditional concrete and steel buildings (Obayashi, 2016). In an earthquake-prone country like Japan, wooden construction can provide as a comparable alternative.

While the article presents a compelling case for wooden construction, it prompts the question of whether wood harvesting for this purpose truly achieves meaningful carbon reduction.

A facet to weigh is the environmental impact of wood harvesting. Global wood harvests are projected to contribute 3.5 to 4.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere annually in the foreseeable future, amounting to approximately 10% of recent annual carbon dioxide emissions (Searchinger et al.,2023).  This draw attention to the crucial function of trees within the forestry ecosystem, where they absorb carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. When trees are removed, the disruption extends beyond just carbon dioxide removal. Nutrients flow become disrupted, affecting surrounding trees, soil and forest bed (Dyck & Mees, 1990). 

The second point to raise is a critical oversight that emerges from overlooking the inefficiency in wood harvesting. Only a quarter of a harvested tree is deemed suitable to be use as building materials, with the remaining three quarter either buried, burnt or left on its own (Peng et al.,2023). This revelation from a study by Peng and his team prompts the need for a thorough examination of wood sustainability where a significant portion of wood harvested remains non-reusable. While the current scale of using wood as a building material is relatively small, the consequences could be detrimental if wood were to replace conventional building materials as the norm (Eric Roston, 2023). It is imperative that more comparison studies have to be conducted in order to determine whether the use of wood in this manner could still result in lower carbon emissions overall compared to using wood and steel.

While the debate of wood environmental friendliness persists, it is undeniably a superior alternative to steel and wood in terms of carbon emissions produced. In congruence with Obayashi's official webpage, it emphasises the significant lower emissions associated with wood construction. Unlike wood, concrete production involves limestone calcination, a process which emits carbon dioxide as a byproduct, contributing to high emission levels (Gustavsson & Sathre, 2005). This presents a strong case for wood as building material aligning with global efforts toward decarbonisation.

In a study (Ramage et al.,2017), he shared two key areas for future research on wood. Understanding the logistics processes behind timber trade and formulating appropriate policies are crucial in assessing the impact of wood harvesting. Analysing the carbon footprint across the entire supply chain of timber trade from logging, processing to transportation and distribution will provide researchers with comprehensive understanding of the environmental impact of using wood as building material. Therefore, this new knowledge can then guide policymakers in setting forest strategies to address the challenges posed by forest harvesting. According to Ramage (2017), effective policy measures include implementing stringent regulations to control wood usage which help strike a balance between wood demand and the time needed for trees to grow. Therefore, conducting studies in these areas will facilitate the search for answers to understand and mitigate the environmental impact of wooden construction.

While the debate of wood environmental friendliness persists, it is undeniably a superior alternative to steel and wood in terms of carbon emissions produced. Unlike wood, concrete production involves limestone calcination, a process which emits carbon dioxide as a byproduct, contributing to high emission levels (Gustavsson & Sathre, 2005). This presents a strong case for wood as building material aligning with global efforts toward decarbonisation.

In summary, while wood offers significantly lower carbon emission levels compared to steel and concrete, critical considerations regarding efficiency, sustainability, and global wood harvesting impact must be addressed first. Achieving sustainable construction and true carbon reductions necessitates the need for further comprehensive studies and effective policies.

 

Reference List:

Clarke, A. (2023). Will Pure Wooden High-Rise Buildings Be a Game Changer for Decarbonization, Obayashi Corporation's Challenge. Will pure wooden skyscrapers be a game changer for decarbonization, Obayashi's challenge - Bloomberg

Dyck, W.J., Mees, C.A. (1990). Nutritional consequences of intensive forest harvesting on site productivity. Nutritional consequences of intensive forest harvesting on site productivity - ScienceDirect. Elsevier, Volume 22, Issues 1-4, Pages: 171-186

Gustavsson, L., Sathre, R. (2005). Variability in energy and carbon dioxide balances of wood and concrete building materials. Variability in energy and carbon dioxide balances of wood and concrete building materials - ScienceDirect

OY Project. (n.d.). Port Plus (oyproject.com)

Obayashi Corporation. (2016). Low-Cost, Long-Span Fire-Resistant Wood Construction Technology: O･Mega Wood (FR). Low-Cost, Long-Span Fire-Resistant Wood Construction Technology: O･Mega Wood (FR) | Appendix | OBAYASHI CHRONICLE 130 English

Ramage, M.H., Burridge, H., Busse-Wicher, M., Fereday, G., Reynolds, T., Shah, D.U., Wu, G., Yu, Li., Fleming, P., Densley-Tingley, Danielle., Allwood, J., Dupree, P., Linden, P.F., Scherman, Oren. (2017).  The wood from the trees: The use of timber in construction. The wood from the trees: The use of timber in construction - ScienceDirect.  Elsevier, Volume 68, Part 1, Pages: 333-359

 Roston, E (2023) Just how climate-friendly are timber buildings? It's complicated. Just how climate-friendly are timber buildings? It’s complicated. (pressherald.com)

Searchinger, T. , Peng, L. , Waite, R. , Zionts. J. (2023). Harvesting Wood Has Overlooked Carbon Costs. Harvesting Wood Has Overlooked Carbon Costs | World Resources Institute (wri.org)

(Peng et al.,2023) The carbon costs of global wood harvests | Nature

Roston, E (2023) Just how climate-friendly are timber buildings? It's complicated. Just how climate-friendly are timber buildings? It’s complicated. (pressherald.com)

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Second Draft:
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