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The ancient Peruvian Nazca civilisation has long been thought to have been wiped out by a flood as the result of the climatic phenomenon El Nino. However, new research suggests that the people’s attitude to logging left them exposed.

The Nazca had access to a tree known as the huarango tree which has the deepest root system on Earth. Unfortunately, the Nazca found the huarango too useful a resource and they cut the trees down for timber and fuel.

The extensive logging projects meant that the civilisation crossed a so-called tipping point in their ecosystem leaving them exposed to the devastating effects of the El Nino flood.

The news may come as a timely reminder of the duty people have towards the planet and the consequences of an ignorant environmental outlook.

Wood burning stoves have seen somewhat of a comeback over the last few years. There are however people who bemoan the use of wood as a heating source because of the pollution it can cause to the environment. If you use the right type of wood you can however reduce some of the emissions burning causes and hence help the environment.

Wood used for burning should be split and stacked and then covered for 6 to 12 months before it is burned. This will mean that the water content in the wood will not be more than 20 percent. This will reduce the amount of smoke produced and hence lead to cleaner air.

People have been using timber to build their homes for hundreds of years. This versatile building material has many advantages over other construction techniques and is environmentally friendly.

Timber frame construction can cut your build time in half if all the work is done at the factory and then erected on site. This means costs and lead time can be reduced. Timber frame design is also aesthetically pleasing and when large timbers are used in the interior of the building large open spaces can be created to enhance the design.

Timber frame homes can be clad with brick or stone to create a brilliant effect and when combined with new energy efficient techniques the home can be eco-friendly also.

Speed of construction is a major advantage of using wood in the construction industry and Shepherd Construction are testament to that fact due to the speed of erection of one of their latest projects at the University of York.

The £100 million pound project which includes six new accommodation blocks built across the site in conjunction with Barn Construction will also see new theatre facilities, computer science departments and management and law schools.

The accommodation buildings are being built using a new prefabricated timber panel system which means the structural loading is lessened and ground works can thus be completed in a much quicker time frame.
Shepherd’s managing planner, Steve Hayman stated:

“Timber is easy to get hold of, quick to build with and there are great environmental and sustainable benefits from using it. Our design team managed to redesign under the initial brief in something like 10 weeks.”

The biggest treehouse ever built has been constructed in Tennessee. The 10 story 100 foot tall structure is approximately 10,000 square feet in size and is built entirely out of reclaimed materials which mainly encompass timber.

Each floor is about 10 feet in height and it is a really imposing structure although it can not be classed as the tallest wooden structure in the world because it uses a foundation of an 80 foot tall white oak tree.

The tree house is build from reclaimed wood that has either been salvaged or donated and proves just how good wood is as a building material.

Wood is such a beautiful material to work with; it’s easy to see why it is the material of choice for craftspeople around the world. With so many different types of wood available, all having their own unique appearance, texture and strength it’s not too difficult to find the right type for your application.

Whether you work in the building trade or you are a furniture designer you will already know of woods versatility. But, wood comes into its own when used in the construction industry. The UK construction industry relies on sustainable supplies of this building material for a wide range of applications. Whether used as a supporting structure or to add style to a design statement, wood is the perfect choice.

Wood is a very versatile building material, which can be used again and again for different building projects. One such example of this is the use of recycled wooden shipping containers and packing crates to build green affordable housing. Our ancestor were using very similar recycling methods to build their houses before the use of bricks and concrete and with our natural resources running low, its only logical to look for more sustainable sources for building materials. As long as we look after our natural wood supplies, there is no reason why wood whether recycled or new can become our primary building materiel?

With the world providing more eco friendly alternatives, why not try improving your home with wood reclamation, it’s the perfect cheaper eco friendly alternative to buying new, and you will also be helping combat the decline of the rainforests. Reclaimed wood can come in many forms such as window frames, door, wall panelling and flooring which can save you huge amounts of money when re-renovating your home. With a large demand for new housing and increasing building costs, using old reclaimed materials is extremely beneficial to reducing growing housing costs and the global impact to the environment as a whole.

With everything becoming electronic and people looking for greener alternatives to everyday products, still one of the most thrown away items is news paper, only used for one day then thrown away. Well this is about to change as the boffins at Cambridge university have come up with an electronic news paper that is entirely made of plastic. The revolutionary new e-paper will dramatically reduce the world’s paper wastage as the new e-paper can be remotely updated on a daily basis, and could also be used for books, magazines and is due to hit the streets in early 2010. At this stage it is only black and white which make it difficult to view magazine pictures, but I’m sure there will be a colour version of the device available shortly after.

60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is under threat from deforestation and climate change. If nothing is done the rainforest could be completely devastated by 2030 which will have massive global impact in terms of temperature and weather changes. The Amazon rainforest produces over 20% of the world’s oxygen, so a depletion of 60 percent will dramatically reduce the world’s oxygen levels and increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The rainforests are pretty much our life blood and it astounds me how industry can deplete this natural resource without replanting more trees, essentially turning the Amazon rainforests into a working forest.