Forest Products Industry

Commissioning a state-of-the-art new game development space in 2020, when the future of work seemed totally unpredictable, was a bold move. But it’s a move that’s paid off for the Xbox Game Studio, Rare. Source: Timberbiz Barn X, built on Rare’s existing Leicestershire, UK campus, exemplifies the leading edge of eco design. It has just been certified LEED GOLD, a world-recognised symbol in sustainable building. Above all else, the 1,200 metre-squared space has been designed to be inspiring, comfortable and adaptable for its team members, who have been settling into the building over the past year. “We asked ourselves, ‘What might the gaming studio of the future look like?’” explains Craig Duncan, studio head at Rare. The result is a close collaboration between Rare, the Microsoft real estate team, London architecture firm LOM and Dublin-based sustainability design advisors RKD. Starting with a blank slate, the team was able to create a forward-thinking building with sustainability at its heart. Barn X runs purely on electricity and is Xbox’s first mass timber building in Europe. The inner timber structure for Barn X was locally sourced, but the exterior cladding timber is New Zealand Accoya. While this comes with more airmiles, the Accoya will last for 60 years without the need for varnish or paint finishing coat. “Whereas if you source locally, a softer wood such as birch or larch, it will need a sealer because it’s a softer material,” Hogan, Director of Sustainability and Research at RKD said. “And It will probably need switching out within 15 years, too, potentially three times over the service life of the building.” Barn X features a range of sustainable solutions, most notably there are 750 square metres of solar panels in a nearby field, offsetting some of the studio’s energy consumption. The barn uses condensate water from chillers to help flush its toilets, saving on water usage and repurposing water which otherwise would have gone to waste. Its pitched roof also houses advanced cooling and ventilation services. The studio has also been designed to give the facilities team the data, functionality and capability it needs to continually optimise the barn’s energy usage. “It’s not a building that’s sitting still in terms of its energy performance,” says Hogan. “It has the ability to improve over time’.” The Rare campus is set in 100 acres of rolling Midlands countryside, near the village of Twycross. Its grounds are covered in swathes of wildflower meadow and there are even beehives, providing Rare-branded honey which staff can buy at reception. Barn X has been designed to bring the outside in, with plenty of foliage, vertical gardens and big windows to help employees enjoy all that inspiring nature. “We wanted to make sure you can see the outside from wherever you are in the building,” Mr Duncan said. “There are paths that weave outside the building and paths that take you out to the solar farm. All those things I think add to wellbeing.” There are also nods in its barn-style structure and timber-cladded frontage to the history of the campus and the heritage of the local area. Every element of the building aims to help foster creativity and collaboration. “Games design is that magical mix of technology, creativity, teamwork and artwork,” Mr Duncan said. “So, all of those things informed how we designed the space. We needed lots of room where teams can work together closely, but we also need quiet spaces and places with sound deadening. The building feels energising, creative and refreshing. It has a really nice vibe.” It was also a priority from the start to create a building that accommodates for neurodiversity as much as possible. All staff can adjust their desk lighting exactly as they like it, and there are spaces for them to find pockets of calm or privacy. The decor has been deliberately pitched to be calming, not overwhelming, but still to provide stimulation. Barn X embodies Microsoft’s wider commitment to being carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030. “It’s something our team really cares about,” says Duncan. “It’s important for them to work in an environment that has sustainability at its core, and to know that they work for a company on a sustainability journey.”

A track loader is the one machine that can do it all – clear, load, dig, carry, fill and more even in tough or slick ground conditions. The new Cat 973 Track Loader combines versatility with up to 10% better fuel efficiency, more productivity, cab improvements and optional Payload technology. Source: Timberbiz The 205 kW crawler loader has an operating weight of 29,892 kg and replaces the 973K worldwide. It joins the 953 (119 kW) and 963 (151 kW) in the Cat track loader line. The 973 is the largest track loader in the industry, but still offers agility and ease of operation. The updated cab features a suspension seat and adjustable armrests/controls. An intuitive 10-inch touchscreen dash display is easy to use and features a standard high-definition rear-view camera. Slope Indicate helps make operation easier by showing machine mainfall and cross slope right on the display. Select joystick or V-lever and pedal steering for transmission controls and either joystick or 2-lever implement controls. The joystick option provides familiar controls for operators experienced with skid steers/compact track loaders. With either control scheme, operators can set implement response – fine, normal, coarse – to match operator preference or application. Repetitive lift, lower, rack, dump and float functions can be preset to make jobs like truck loading easier. Smoother implement and steering response, and improved steering performance provide more controllability. The 973 is powered by a Cat C9.3B engine. Fuel consumption is reduced up to 10% with the Auto Mode that will adapt the engine speed to the load. Eco Mode will use even lower speed for further reduction in fuel consumption in lighter duty applications. Power Mode will keep engine speed high for a feel of readily available power at all times. An optional Performance Series bucket boosts productivity up to 20%. An optional Fusion Quick Coupler enables fast attachment changes. A variety of buckets, forks and other tools can be shared among track loaders, wheel loaders and other Fusion compatible machines. Cat Payload* technology delivers precise bucket load information with on-the-go weighing, which helps prevent over- or under-loading. More accurate loading reduces cycle times to help save time, labour and fuel costs.  

New Forests has appointed Yida Kemoli as managing director, Africa. Mr Kemoli will be responsible for driving the strategy for New Forests’ African business, fund raising for African forestry strategies, leading the team on the ground in Nairobi, and delivering investment returns and impact outcomes for clients. Source: Timberbiz He brings over two decades of experience leading, investing in, and growing businesses primarily in Eastern Africa across various sectors related to agriculture and nature-based solutions, as well as infrastructure and consumer industries. Mr Kemoli was previously a senior partner with Phatisa Group, a food and agriculture focused sub-Saharan African private equity fund management business, where he was responsible for origination and portfolio management in Eastern Africa, as well as being a member of the investment committee and portfolio company boards. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Mr Kemoli will report to Mark Rogers, Chief Executive Officer of New Forests and sit on New Forests’ executive committee. Mark Rogers, Chief Executive Officer of New Forests said, “We are extremely excited to welcome Yida to the team. Africa represents a strategically important market for New Forests to continue to capitalise on the wealth of opportunities that exist across forestry in Sub-Saharan Africa. “We aim to deliver commercial returns for our investors, alongside managing conservation projects and making a substantial impact in the local communities where we invest. Yida’s knowledge, experience and long track record in the African investment and natural capital space will be fundamental in contributing to the success of the business.” New Forests has had a presence in Kenya since 2021. In 2022, along with investment partners British International Investment (BII), Norfund and Finnfund, New Forests launched its first African forestry strategy with four impact targets around climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, gender & diversity, and community & livelihoods.  

Safetree NZ has released the Health & Safety statistics dashboard for March 2024. WorkSafe provides statistics on forestry fatalities and workplace incidents. These investigations help inform of any key issues or trends as they come to light. Source: Timberbiz Overall, there is a downward trend in workplace injuries and fatalities in forestry. While injuries are evenly spread across silviculture, harvesting and unloading/loading log activities, the majority of injuries requiring time off work is in silviculture. Injuries and fatality rates are also higher in forestry than industry averages across New Zealand. For more information visit: https://www.safetree.nz/statistics The statistics dashboard can be downloaded here.

State-owned Forestry Corporation has admitted destroying precious hollow-bearing NSW habitat trees in an eleventh-hour move that avoids a criminal trial. Sources: Australian Associated Press, The Canberra Times The trial was due to start this week in the Land and Environment Court and public interest advocate John Corkill was seeking special permission to be heard. But the trial won’t proceed after the NSW corporation pleaded guilty to three charges on Monday – almost four years after the damage was done. The charges relate to the illegal destruction of three hollow-bearing trees in the Wild Cattle Creek State Forest, west of Coffs Harbour, in July 2020. The forest is home to a host of native species including endangered koalas, greater gliders, owls and other native animals that depend on hollow trees, which can take 100 years or more to form. The guilty pleas add to Forestry Corporation’s previous admissions, made a year and half ago, that it illegally destroyed six giant trees in the same forest about the same time. Under the forestry laws all giant trees measuring more than 1.4 metres across must not be destroyed. The corporation will be sentenced on all of the charges in September and Dr Corkill an environmentalist and legal scholar still hopes to be heard under a rarely used legal provision. He wants the court to accept him as an amicus curiae – a person who seeks to assist the court while not being a party to proceedings. If he wins the right to appear, as a delegate of the Bellingen Environment Centre, he will urge the court to scrutinise the conduct of the Environment Protection Authority. He says the watchdog has brought proceedings against Forestry Corporation 13 times since 1997 but hasn’t gone after the individuals or contractors that did the illegal clearing, despite having the power to do so. An amicus curiae can suggest questions for the court to ask and Dr Corkill hopes Justice Nicola Pain will grill the EPA about why it’s only done half the job. “We can look in the court file and see that EPA prosecutes persons and private companies in every other industrial setting,” he said. “But they’ve never prosecuted a person or a private logging contractor that does work for the Forestry Corporation. Why is that?” Dr Corkill says he’s been advised the EPA does not support his bid to be heard. The EPA says it decides on prosecution based on evidence and culpability in line with its regulatory policy and prosecution guidelines. “In this case, the EPA decided to prosecute FCNSW as the appropriate defendant.” Forestry Corporation has told AAP it regrets the destruction of hollow-bearing trees. It said all hollow-bearing trees were required to be retained and 411 were “but three trees were subsequently found to have hollows at the base, which had been obscured by extremely dense understorey”. It said the giant trees were destroyed in an operation during a transition period from one set of regulations to another.