Portland Press Herald just published an opinion column focused on why more tall wood buildings should be built in Maine. In “Maine Voices: It’s time to build ‘plyscrapers’ here,” author Lee Burnett explains that Maine is the most heavily forested state in the country, with forests in over 85% of the land. Burnett describes Maine’s working forests as “…the engines in this story. They inhale carbon from the air and store it benignly in trunks, branches and roots.”
The article goes on to clarify that large amounts of carbon in the atmosphere is not good, but carbon stored in trees and wood products are the best solution. Emphasizing the role of forests, Burnett states, “Forests can become climate-benefit multipliers when the harvest is shifted toward lumber and other long-lived products that displace energy-intensive building materials such as aluminum, concrete and steel.” The article concedes other countries are building tall wooden buildings with ease and Portland could be the next supporter.
(Photography by Ema Peter | Courtesy of Michael Green Architecture)
Read the full article at the Portland Press Herald.