Summary: What’s old is new again. This episode shines a light on the current industry move back toward biogenic building materials, with a specific focus on the wood products we use for the construction of homes and buildings. The core question we explore here is “Is wood good, always and in all cases? “ What are the right perspectives to have regarding forests, trees, wood, and carbon accounting? The basic situation is clear: Wood comes from trees, and trees come from forests. But forests are complex ecosystems with interdependencies that are inextricably woven into a rapidly changing set of climate patterns, forest management practices, and societal demands for building materials for both today and for generations to come. Guided by two deeply knowledgeable and thoughtful industry leaders, Chris Magwood and Jacob Racusin, we unpack the seemingly simple question of “Is wood good?” With this as a starting point other questions logically follow. What would be the carbon outcome of not cutting the tree down? Where is carbon stored in forests? How much of that forest-sequestered carbon ends up in our lumber yards and homes? Are current forest management practices appropriate? Are the certification programs trusted to protect our forests up to the task? These are relevant questions that are not asked frequently enough to inform decisions about wood and other biogenic materials. More broadly this episode is about selecting building materials. These decisions have gotten more complicated for all involved in recent years - impacts to the geobiosphere and human health impacts are now top of mind - expanding an already vast range of material considerations that includes aesthetics, thermal and moisture properties, strength and durability, availability and cost. Still, the overarching fact of the matter is that we have arrived at a time in our industry where carbon accounting is an important new normal and tools like BEAM (Building Emissions Accounting for Materials) are here to stay so now is the time to engage.
