Slow Wood : Greener Building from Local Forests.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donahue, Brian.

Series:

Yale Agrarian Studies Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture--Environmental aspects--United States.

Architecture.

Building, Wooden--United States.

Building, Wooden.

Sustainable construction--United States.

Sustainable construction.

Wooden-frame buildings--United States.

Wooden-frame buildings.

Wooden-frame houses--United States.

Wooden-frame houses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (297 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2024.

Summary:

A radical proposal for healing the relationship between humans and forests through responsible, sustainable use of local and regional wood in home building American homes are typically made of lumber and plywood delivered by a global system of ruthless extraction, or of concrete and steel, which are even worse for the planet. Wood is often the most sustainable material for building, but we need to protect diverse forests as much as we desperately need more houses. Brian Donahue addresses this modern conundrum by documenting his experiences building a timber frame home from the wood growing on his family farm, practicing “worst first” forestry. Through the stories of the trees he used (sugar maple, black cherry, black birch, and hemlock), and some he didn’t (white pine and red oak), the book also explores the history of Americans’ relationship with their forests. Donahue provides a new interpretation of the connection between American houses and local woodlands. He delves into how this bond was broken by the rise of a market economy of industrial resource extraction and addresses the challenge of restoring a more enduring relationship. Ultimately, this book provides a blueprint and a stewardship plan for how to live more responsibly with the woods, offering a sustainable approach to both forestry and building centered on tightly connected ecological and social values.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Introduction

One: We Buy the Farm

Two: Fencing Out the Forest

Three: The Woods

Four: Hemlock Frame

Five: Cherry Braces

Six: Birch Floor

Seven: Maple Stairs

Eight: Wood, Fire, and Stone

Nine: Wood Is Green

Ten: Slow Food, Slow Fire, Slow Wood

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780300280319

0300280319

OCLC:

1458759389