Graduate Environmental Program

This week’s Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science seminar information:

Friday 8th August, 2008
9:30am
Stage 2 Lecture Theatre
Creswick Campus
The University of Melbourne, School of Land and Environment

Title:
Green building, the carbon cycle and sustainable forest management: wood for thought.

Speaker:
Rod Keenan
Professor and Head, Department of Forest Ecosystem Science

Abstract:
Green building has become a major movement in architecture and construction. Construction companies are responding to pressures to use more sustainable practices that minimise building energy usage, improve the quality of the working or living environment, use resources such as water more efficiently and use lower impact materials and minimise external environmental impacts. Benefits of meeting green building standards could include more satisfied and happier building occupants, reduced operating costs, improved risk management, potentially higher profits and financial rewards through carbon credits and other policy mechanisms. Wood is often promoted as suitable material for use in green building but there is considerable debate about the sources of wood that can be considered acceptable for green building ratings. This presentation provides a discussion of the key issues in assessment of sustainability of building materials, wood products and the carbon cycle and approaches to demonstrating sustainable forest management, particularly forest certification. The interaction between the use of wood for construction, carbon storage or energy will be a significant conundrum for forest policy makers and the forest industry. Some of the challenges will be discussed.

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Morning tea will be provided following the seminar.

Find out what’s coming up next week… http://www.forestscience.unimelb.edu.au/seminar/index_fri.html

Check out these series too…

SFES – DSE 2008 Open Seminar Series http://www.forestscience.unimelb.edu.au/seminar/index_dse.html

Postgraduate Seminar Series http://www.forestscience.unimelb.edu.au/seminar/index_wed.html

Burnley Seminar Series http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/depts/seminars/index.html

School of Botany Seminar Series http://www.botany.unimelb.edu.au/botany/news/seminars.html

Please NOTE the Faculty now has a new name! It is no longer the Faculty of Land and Food Resources, but is now the Melbourne School of Land and Environment.
The School of Forest and Ecosystem Science is now the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science.