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Nature is a formidable therapist. It soothes the soul, refocuses the mind and calms the nervous system. In short, it has the power to support almost every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing. So, why not go all in? Source: The Spaces photo courtesy Shishi-Iwa House Forest bathing, a mindfulness custom developed in 1980s Japan also known as shinrin-yok, is the ultimate in natural immersion therapy. Once billed as ‘the new spa day’, the practice is now believed to offer a great deal more than simple relaxation. It can be medicinal. Research from the NHS, Harvard Health, the American Psychological Association and even the Mayo Clinic suggests that ensconcing ourselves in nature for as little as 20 minutes can reduce blood pressure, lower stress, improve cardiovascular and metabolic health and lift depression. The healing properties have been widely recognised within the medical profession, as evidenced by the growing trend for ‘green social prescribing’, which sees healthcare professionals refer patients to non-clinical interventions in nature. The good news is you won’t require a prescription. On a basic level, forest bathing is simply access to, and mindful appreciation of, the natural environment, quite literally an exercise in seeing the wood for the trees. But as the trend gains momentum, those who want a more elevated experience have options. Here are five design-led forest bathing retreats, spas and hotels across the globe. Casa de Baños, Mexico This circular bathhouse in 450 mountainous acres west of Mexico City offers the ultimate forest bathing experience. Designed by Robert Hutchinson Architecture and JSa Arquitectura with vertical tongue-and-groove pine siding and southern yellow pine, the 700 sqft structure is more than just a loo with a view. Intrinsically connected to nature, it looks out to the forest from all of its four distinct zones: hot bath, sauna, steam shower and washroom. And a cold plunge pool at the centre opens to the sky. Shishi-Iwa House, Japan It comes as no surprise the country that popularised forest bathing is a pioneer in intuitive natural design. The 34-room Shishi-Iwa House hotel unfurls over three architecturally striking buildings in the small forest town of Karuizawa, less than an hour outside Toyko. The first two were designed by renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban in 2018 and 2022 and the third by Ryue Nishizawa in 2023. The gardens feature more than 250 trees — evergreens, cherry blossoms and Japanese maples — and natural materials throughout. Every room has a private balcony overlooking the gardens, forest and mountains, and interiors have been kept purposefully stripped back and simple to allow a deeper focus on the outside world. Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring spa, China The juxtaposition of this industrial-style structure against the cliffs and forest of Wuling Mountain’s Yanshi Village adds to the distinctiveness of Vector Architects’ spa design. Created to look like a ‘piece of hot spring apparatus’, the bathhouse is topped with eight lightwells that resemble chimneys. Surrounded by poplar trees 30 metres high, the prime location is something of a double-edged sword. With the lower levels suffering from a lack of natural light, shower and changing facilities were built at the bottom, benefitting from the natural veil of privacy. Further up is a relaxation room with floor-to-ceiling windows in the thick of the tree canopy. The spa itself is at the top. Treetop Hotel Lovtag, Denmark Nine treetop cabins perched six to eight metres off the ground on Denmark’s Als Odde peninsula have nature at their heart, quite literally. Not only do each of these Sigurd Larsen-designed cabins, part of the famed Lovtag retreat, have unbroken forest views over the treetops from their panoramic windows, they also have tree trunks running through their interiors. Outdoor showers mounted to each façade allow for forest bathing in a very real sense. Arcana, Canada Part forest bathing experience and part optical illusion, this immersive cabin retreat two hours north of Toronto harnesses the power of reflection to blend into the woodland. Snaking along 3,000 feet of waterfront, the 23 steel structures meld into the forest, each designed to facilitate solitude and minimise disruption so no interaction with staff or fellow guests is required. Open year-round, the retreat leans heavily on its location to promote and support a deep connection with nature.

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The 7280E Hybrid Electric Drive Yarder operates with electric drives that exchange power similar to a hybrid car. Sources: Timberbiz, Today in BC This machinery manufacturer has been producing machines for the logging sector for the past 40 years, and now it has developed the first hybrid-electric logging yarder. T-MAR Industries Ltd. has spent the past five years developing the 7280E Hybrid Electric Drive Yarder, which operates with electric drives that exchange power similar to a hybrid car. “It doesn’t have the mechanical powertrain – engine, transmission, gears, clutches and brakes – in it, so it is more fuel efficient, making it more powerful, and much easier to run and maintain,” said Tyson Lambert, vice president at T-MAR. The winch operates using five motors that collectively produce 2,900 horsepower, he said. However, the actual energy consumption is expected to be significantly lower compared with a conventionally powered machine. The use of logging yarders dates back to the 1920s. In the forestry industry, they are regarded as the backbone of logging due to their ability to effortlessly lift logs from British Columbia’s rough terrains. These days, Mr Lambert said, efficiency is important, along with ease of access. With a considerable amount of experience retiring from the industry, it is essential to educate newcomers, and the machinery must be simple to maintain and operate. And T-MAR’s hybrid-electric logging yarder has attracted international attention with industry professionals from the US, New Zealand, Germany, and Chile coming to inspect the machine. There’s a lot of interest in using similar machines in their forestry operations, Mr Lambert said. The machine is set to be deployed at its first logging operation, and the industry will be paying close attention to how it performs.  

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A new study, led by researchers at the University of Missouri, has uncovered how poplar trees can naturally adjust a key part of their wood chemistry based on changes in their environment. Source: Timberbiz This discovery, the result of a collaboration with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Georgia, could help create better biofuels and other sustainable products. Lignin is an abundant natural substance found in almost every plant containing stems, roots and leaves. It helps plants stay upright, move water and protect themselves from temperature changes and other environmental factors. “Lignin acts as both a glue and an armor it holds everything together while also protecting the plant from outside stressors,” Jaime Barros-Rios, an assistant professor of plant molecular biology, said. “Understanding how plants make lignin could help us improve its conversion into high-value biomaterials and improve the competitiveness of U.S. biorefineries.” Poplars are already being used in the paper and pulp industry. Now, they’re being explored as a source of bioenergy; fuels, plastics and other bioproducts made from plants instead of oil. Poplar trees are also useful for scientific research because their genome has been fully mapped. This additional knowledge allowed Barros-Rios, his team at Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and external collaborators to discover that the chemical makeup of lignin changes based on a tree’s latitude, or how far north or south it’s located from the equator. The researchers examined 430 wood samples from Populus trichocarpa, a poplar tree species that grows primarily in western North America from northern California to British Columbia in Canada. The trees growing in warmer climates produced lignin with a higher ratio of syringyl-to-guaiacyl (S/G) two key chemical building blocks called monomers, compared with those from colder climates. “This S/G ratio represents the proportion between the two most abundant monomers in lignin,” Weiwei Zhu, a postdoctoral researcher in the Barros-Rios lab and lead author of the study, said. “These monomers have slightly different chemical structures, impacting the properties of the wood and directly influencing how easily lignin can be broken down and processed making it easier to create biofuels and a wide variety of everyday products.” In addition to the genetic study, the research team used 3D computer modelling to better understand their findings. “We identified a mutation in an important cell wall enzyme in poplar trees called laccase, which was found to control the S/G ratio in this natural population,” Rachel Weber, a senior biochemistry student at Mizzou who built the model, said. “So, I was able to utilize a protein structural modelling software called ColabFold to pinpoint the exact location of this mutation within the laccase protein.” To the team’s surprise, the mutation didn’t show up within the active centre of the protein suggesting that the deposition of lignin in natural settings may be regulated by still uncharacterized signaling pathways, Ms Weber said. “This points to a more complex regulation than we initially thought and gives us new clues about how trees adapt and protect themselves,” she said. “This knowledge will help us develop additional hypotheses about how this protein functions and interacts with the plant’s surrounding environment.” In another unexpected discovery, the team found trace levels of a rare form of lignin — called C-lignin in poplar trees. Previously, C-lignin was only known to be present in the seeds of a few plants, such as vanilla and cacti. Because C-lignin is simpler and more uniform than regular lignin, it’s easier to break down and process into usable plant material for bioplastics, biofuels and other renewable products. “This type of lignin could help us turn plant biomass into valuable commodity chemicals more efficiently,” Barros-Rios said. Looking ahead, Mizzou’s team is now working to genetically engineer poplar trees and soybeans so that they can contain more C-lignin making the biomass of these plants easier to process into next-generation biorefineries. The study, “Factors underlying a latitudinal gradient in S/G lignin monomer radio in natural poplar variants,” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Co-authors are Yen On Chan and Ganesh Panzade at the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics; Trupti Joshi at the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center and Mizzou’s Department of Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics and Medical Epidemiology; Jin Zhang, Mengjun Shu, Connor Cooper, Russell Davidson, Jerry Parks, Gerald Tuskan and Wellington Muchero at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Richard Dixon at the University of North Texas and Pradeep Kumar Prabhakar and Beeanna Urbanowicz at the University of Georgia.

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Biofuel technology that promises to help reduce the marine shipping industry’s carbon footprint is a step closer, with the launch of a company set up to lead its commercialisation. Source: Timberbiz Start-up venture Biowave, launched in Wellington in August, will focus on attracting private investors to help commercialise the technology, which converts wood into biofuel that can be used as a drop-in replacement for fossil-based marine heavy fuel oil. Developed by the Bioeconomy Science Institute, this innovation produces a biofuel that blends with existing marine fuel oil, aimed to use existing portside and on-board infrastructure and to meet the existing marine fuel specifications. Biowave is a spin-out company from the Bioeconomy Science Institute, with two staff – Integrated Bioenergy portfolio leader Dr Paul Bennett and innovation manager Amanda Davies as its co-founders. Dr Bennett says the biofuel technology is a promising solution to reducing the shipping industry’s carbon footprint. “With the global shipping sector responsible for around three percent of annual CO2 emissions, the need for sustainable alternatives has never been more urgent,” he said. “We are committed to driving down biofuel costs and accelerating clean energy innovations for the maritime sector. Major exporters are increasingly concerned about the carbon emissions linked to their products, with market access becoming a real risk. The technology has the potential to make a substantial contribution to the maritime industry’s decarbonisation goals.” Shipping is an essential component of global trade, moving 80% of the world’s goods. For New Zealand, 99% of international trade depends on maritime routes, with shipping enabling nearly 45% of the country’s gross domestic profit. “As demand for shipping increases, the sector’s carbon footprint is on track to rise, potentially accounting for up to 13% of global emissions in the coming decades if no action is taken,” Dr Bennett said. Fuel testing of a 20% Biowave blend has excited industry partners and could represent a product suitable for entry in the marine fuel market. Scale-up production and engine testing will be required to confirm market acceptance. “The maritime industry is actively seeking solutions, and we’ve seen significant interest in Biowave from key stakeholders across the supply chain, including shipping companies, energy providers, ports and product exporters,” Ms Davies said. “This technology offers a cost-competitive, sustainable solution for New Zealand’s economy and could be scaled globally. With strong market validation and a clear path to market, Biowave is set to make a lasting impact on New Zealand’s economy and the maritime industry to meet 2050 climate commitments.” The Scion Group’s leadership in this space is reinforced by its participation in the KiwiNet Commercialisation Partner Network, which aims to drive the commercial success of research innovations in New Zealand.  

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As the emphasis and debate on prefabrication of buildings and building components rages – especially for dwellings – the data demonstrates imports are unlikely to be a significant element of prefabricated building supply, over the longer term. That is good news for those focussed on improving Australia’s capacity to prefabricate buildings, especially dwellings. At least one variable – import competition – is likely to remain relatively small, albeit imports continue to grow. Source: IndustryEdge However, the reality remains, many of the key components of prefabrication and other aspects of the much-needed revolution in modern methods of construction (MMC), are more likely to be imported than supplied locally. This is especially the case for the main engineered wood products (EWPs), imports of which continue to grow, against a backdrop of local manufacturing failing to keep case with demand. Developing reliability and confidence in MMC – including prefabrication of dwellings and dwelling elements – is critical to achieving investment, at scale. Though it is not the only ingredient, one requirement is deepening material input supply chains, including for critical EWPs. The aim needs to be co-location and integration of key manufacturing activities, alongside fabrication activities. Australia’s imports of prefabricated buildings increased 5.8% in 2024-25, rising to a record AUD278.5 million. While import growth has been solid in recent years, imports are negligible compared to the annual value of building in Australia. Prefabricated timber building imports have grown faster since 2019 (averaging growth of 34.2% per annum) than the growth in total prefabricated building imports (averaging growth of 13.5% per annum). Despite the stronger growth, prefabricated timber building imports accounted for just 8.8% of total imports of prefabricated buildings, measured by value. Unsurprisingly, China accounted for 43.0% of total timber prefabricated building imports in 2024-25, however, its share of total prefabricated building imports for the year was 67.8%. In FY25, imports of timber-based prefabricated buildings were valued at AUDCif24.4 million. That was a record. But was only marginally higher than the value recorded in FY23. Since FY19, timber prefabricated building imports have increased an average 34.2% per annum, coming from a very low base. Imports of Prefabricated Buildings by Main Type: FY19 – FY25 (AUDCifM & %) The total value of imported prefabricated buildings was AUDCif278.5 million in FY25, meaning timber imports were just 8.8% of the total.Total prefabricated building imports have continued to rise, increasing an average 12.4% per annum since FY19. That is solid, but compared to the domestic construction sector, is quite minor. In FY25, Australia received prefabricated timber building imports from 17 countries, but just a few dominated the trade. China dominates supply, accounting for 43% of the value of imports in FY25. Of interest is that European producers hold down the next three places. The data provides no details, but IndustryEdge suspects there will be real differences in the types of buildings being imported from China and from Europe. Imports of Prefabricated Timber Buildings by Country: FY19 – FY25 (AUDCifM) The steady growth in prefabricated building imports tells a small story for Australia, but there is a larger element to this data. One observation the data invites is that there are significant logistical challenges to importing buildings, even when they are ‘flat-packed’. For an island nation, sea-bound imports of buildings remains more challenging than in other countries, where land import options exist. For more information visit: www.industryedge.com.au

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