Timber iQ February - March 2019 // Issue: 42 | Page 8

NEWS
Breeding trees for big buildings
Commercially farmed trees offer a renewable, carbon neutral and
versatile fibre for bio-innovation.
Wood from commercially farmed trees offers renewability, carbon neutrality and versatility required for green innovation.
T
all timber buildings was just one of the topics
deliberated on at the recent annual meeting of the
International Council of Forest & Paper Associations
(ICFPA) in Tokyo, Japan. Country representatives discussed
global priorities around climate change, tree breeding
research and the role of the sector in the bio-economy.
With Tokyo as the host city, it would be remiss not to
examine plans by Sumitomo Forestry to build a 350-metre
high hybrid timber skyscraper to mark the company's 350th
anniversary in 2041.
Named W350, the ambitious 70-storey tower will be
almost four times higher than the 18-storey Brock
Commons Student Residence in Vancouver, Canada, which
currently holds the record for the tallest timber building in
the world. The skyscraper was designed by Sumitomo's
Tsukuba Research Laboratory in collaboration with Tokyo
practice Nikken Sekkei. It will be Japan's tallest building.
The company says it will be a ‘wood and steel hybrid
structure of the right materials in the right places’ with a
timber to steel ratio of 9:1. It is expected that 185 000m 3
6
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 //
of wood will be used in its construction. But where will it
come from?
“They will grow the trees,” remarks ICFPA president and
executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association
of South Africa Jane Molony. “Tree breeding forms an
integral part of the W350 project, and Sumitomo envisages
a convergence of materials, biorefinery and tissue culture
technologies.”
GREEN SHOOTS OF INNOVATION
"On the one hand, the sector has seen printing and writing
grade production and consumption continue its downward
trend with machines either closing or converting to more
profitable grades,” explains Molony. “We have seen the
death of some grades but now we witness the emergence
of so much that is new, that is hopeful; green shoots are
everywhere."
Like the phoenix rising, Molony says that nanocellulose is
being commercially produced in Japan. “We see investment
in biofuel in Finland, xylitol being produced from waste
www.timberiq.co.za