Timber is a vital resource that is all around us. It is the house that shelters us, the furniture we relax in, the books we read, the paper we print, the disposable diapers for our babies, and the boxes that contain our cereal, detergent, and new appliances. The way we produce and consume timber, however, is changing. With international timber companies and big box discount retailers increasingly controlling through global commodity chains where and how much timber is traded, the world's remaining old-growth forests, particularly in the developing world, are under threat of disappearing - all for the price of a consumer bargain. This trailblazing book is the first to expose what's happening inside corporate commodity chains with conclusions that fundamentally challenge our understanding of how and why deforestation persists. Authors Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister reveal how timber now moves through long and complex supply chains from the forests of the global South through the factories of emerging economies like China to the big box retail shelves of Europe and North America. Well-off consumers are getting unprecedented deals. But the social and environmental costs are extraordinarily high as corporations mine the world's poorest regions and most vulnerable ecosystems. The growing power of big retail within these commodity chains is further increasing South-North inequities and unsustainable global consumption. Yet, as this book's highly original analysis uncovers, it is also creating some intriguing opportunities to promote more responsible business practices and better global forest governance.

This book contains the contributions from the RILEM International Symposium on Materials and Joints in Timber Structures that was held in Stuttgart, Germany from October 8 to 10, 2013. It covers recent developments in the materials and the joints used in modern timber structures. Regarding basic wooden materials, the contributions highlight the widened spectrum of products comprising cross-laminated timber, glulam and LVL from hardwoods and block glued elements. Timber concrete compounds, cement bonded wood composites and innovative light-weight constructions represent increasingly employed alternatives for floors, bridges and facades. With regard to jointing technologies, considerable advances in both mechanical connections and glued joints are presented. Self-tapping screws have created unprecedented options for reliable, strong as well as ductile joints and reinforcement technologies. Regarding adhesives, which constitute the basis of the jointing/laminating technology of modern timber products, extended options for tailor-made bonding solutions have to be stated. Apart from melamine-urea and phenolic-resorcinol adhesives, one-component-polyurethanes, emulsion isocyanate polymers and epoxies offer a wide range of possibilities. The contributions dealing with experimental and numerical investigations on static, cyclic and seismic behavior of structures clearly reveal the enhanced potential of modern timber construction for reliable and sustainable buildings and bridges of the new millennium. The book is structured in nine thematic areas, being I) Structures II) Mechanical Connections III) Glued Joints and Adhesives IV) Timber and Concrete/Cement/Polymer Composites V) Cyclic, Seismic Behavior VI) Hardwood, Modified Wood and Bamboo VII) Cross-Laminated Timber VIII) Properties and Testing of Wood IX) Glulam

Together with masonry construction, timber construction is usually one of the first building exercises encountered by the student in his or her training. This volume begins by presenting the building material timber in all of its facets and explaining the fundamental principles of timber construction. It then goes on to describe the most important building components and their constructive possibilities, specifically as they pertain to building with timber. Subjects: Timber as building material, Timber preservation, Systems for building with timber, Building components from foundation to roof.

Timber construction is one of the most prevalent methods of constructing buildings in North America and an increasingly significant method of construction in Europe and the rest of the world. Timber Engineering deals not only with the structural aspects of timber construction, structural components, joints and systems based on solid timber and engineered wood products, but also material behaviour and properties on a wood element level. Produced by internationally renowned experts in the field, this book represents the state of the art in research on the understanding of the material behaviour of solid wood and engineered wood products. There is no comparable compendium currently available on the topic - the subjects represented include the most recent phenomena of timber engineering and the newest development of practice-related research. Grouped into three different sections, 'Basic properties of wood-based structural elements', 'Design aspects on timber structures' and 'Joints and structural assemblies', this book focuses on key issues in the understanding of: timber as a modern engineered construction material with controlled and documented properties the background for design of structural systems based on timber and engineered wood products the background for structural design of joints in structural timber systems Furthermore, this invaluable book contains advanced teaching material for all technical schools and universities involved in timber engineering. It also provides an essential resource for timber engineering students and researchers, as well as practicing structural and civil engineers.

Timber: Its Nature and Behaviour adopts a materials science approach to timber and comprehensively examines the relationship between the performance of timber and its structure. This book explains a wide range of timbers physical and mechanical behaviour (including processing) in terms of its basic structure and its complex interaction with moisture. The performance of timber and panel products is also related to the levels set in new European specifications and with the associated methods of testing.