Eric Karsh in Talking Wood: Share your expertise and help wood construction grow
The growing demand for renewable building materials calls for knowledge transfer across the globe. Eric Karsh, Principal at Equilibrium Consulting Inc., encourages all professionals to join Metsä Wood’s Open Source Wood initiative and share innovations in large-scale, modular wood construction.
Modern, “high-tech” timber is a relatively new thing. The fact that engineered wood is still not among the most popular building materials has greatly to do with lack of education. Even today, one can get an architectural or engineering degree without knowing anything about modern wood construction. Open Source Wood is addressing the innovation part of the challenge, but there is also a need for an online university in timber engineering and wood construction.
Why share?
Timber technology is progressing quickly, making wood an increasingly competitive option. However, most innovations in engineered wood go largely unacknowledged beyond their immediate locality. Open Source Wood enables open collaboration between timber engineering professionals.
“There are pockets of expertise in timber engineering around the world, and we need new mechanisms to transfer information,” Eric Karsh explains: “Those who have it need to share it.”
Openly sharing innovations enables professionals to connect with each other, grow the market and win more customers.
Take part in Open Source Wood
The Open Source Wood initiative (opensourcewood.com) is an innovation platform for element and modular building. All materials are welcome, but designs must use wood as a major component. Metsä Wood provides expert advice for the submitted elements. The entries, along with Metsä Wood’s own designs, will be freely available for everyone to use.
Metsä Wood will reward innovation in modular element design by offering EUR 30,000 in prize money during 2017 to exceptional designs using Kerto®LVL as a major component.
See the new Talking Wood videos, where Eric Karsh talks about the need for knowledge transfer in timber engineering.
Talking Wood with Eric Karsh, part I
Talking Wood with Eric Karsh, part II
Talking Wood with Eric Karsh, part III
Join the Open Source Wood initiative. The deadline for submissions is 1st of October 2017.
Images: http://databank.metsagroup.com/l/MWWTmG6fLVQW
For more information, please contact:
Henni Rousu, Communications Manager, Metsä Wood
tel. +358 40 554 8388, henni.rousu@metsagroup.com
For press information, please contact:
Matt Trace, Director, Defero Communications
tel. 07828663988, matt@deferouk.co.uk
Metsä Wood provides competitive and environmentally friendly wood products for construction, industrial customers and distributor partners. We manufacture products from northern wood, a sustainable raw material of premium quality. Our sales in 2016 were EUR 0.5 billion, and we employ about 1,500 people. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.
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