If there was ever a way to combine high tech and high touch as John Naisbitt stated in High Tech, High Touch, his 1999 follow-up to his 1982 bestseller Megatrends, “embracing technology that preserves our humanness”, WholeTrees Architecture & Structures of Madison, Wisconsin epitomizes it. WholeTrees is an innovative company that has hit it out of the park in terms of innovating on technology while providing a substantial impact return, all while having one of the most gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing product lines you’ll ever see.
WholeTrees uses trees as turn-key structural systems in commercial and residential building construction. Until you see the photos, however, the description doesn’t do justice to the warmth of their offering.
The co-founding team of Roald Gundersen AIA, an architect, and Amelia Baxter, in partnership with the Forest Products Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, have developed a process that allows them to cost-effectively grade, engineer and manufacture the small trees removed from routine forest thinning (called small diameter round-timber), and use the timber as patented trusses, beams and joists in building construction. In doing so they turn forest waste into a sustainable and high value building material.
Round timber is an abundant and renewable resource. The timber is sustainably harvested then dried and treated to protect against shrinkage and pests. Pound for pound as strong as steel in tension, unmilled timber requires less than two percent of the energy of concrete and steel materials for processing and transportation.
“We are positioned to occupy a large niche in the approximately $13 billion U.S. sustainable structural systems market,” says Amelia Baxter, president. WholeTrees is a woman-owned business with pending Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) certification.
Last week they announced a $1.8 million debt and equity financing from investors who characterize themselves as “impact investors”. Impact investors seek environmental and social returns in addition to financial returns. WholeTrees also receives on-going grant support through the USDA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
Through the innovative use of the cullings of well-managed forests, WholeTrees products store carbon while displacing the pollution and carbon that comes from the use of steel and concrete. Well-managed forests increase the up-take of carbon and can diversify forest habitats. The company claims that life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies indicate that wood outperforms fossil fuel-intensive materials such as steel and concrete on all measures including embodied energy, air and water pollution and global warming.
“The WholeTrees vision, Prosperity with Forests, has guided our strategy as we develop scalable technologies for the forest products industry and it has inspired our investors,” says Baxter. “The highest value product from a forest is to use an unmilled tree for its innate engineering properties and its beauty.”
With the close of its seed (pun intended) round, WholeTrees continues to reimagine the tree. Baxter enjoys pointing out that the tree is, “a self-replicating carbon nano-fiber that cleans the environment while it’s produced. Our patented steel connections and ongoing research bring this material to market with the uniformity required by our industry, and the sensual, earthy aesthetic desired by our customers.”
WholeTrees has 15 full time employees and those numbers more than double with seasonal employment to meet heavy project loads. Product sales this year are expected to be about $1.2 million according to Baxter and will approximately double in 2016. The company is looking to license its technology in the long run which will allow it to open its technology to the entire forest products industry.
The “sensual, earthy aesthetic” that Baxter describes is what drew me in, environmental and social impact notwithstanding. Check out the images…
Neil Kane (@neildkane) is the president of Illinois Partners which helps companies, universities and investors with innovation strategies and technology commercialization.
