Construction: Niche architect uses whole trees
By Joe Orso

Traditionally, business and environmentalism have seemed at odds.

Businesses have consumed resources, such as gas for fuel or trees for lumber, while environmentalism has encouraged resource preservation.

Through cutting-edge architecture, Roald Gundersen seeks to change that dynamic.

Instead of building with milled lumber that comes from clearing forests of big, old-growth trees, the Stoddard, Wis., resident builds with young, small-diameter trees. And because he uses wind-bent and diseased trees and invasive species, his method improves the health of forests by ridding them of trees that hinder diversity, and allowing the healthiest ones to remain.

“It’s one of those rare cases where by consuming something it produces more,” Gundersen said. “Most forests in the United States need a tremendous amount of weeding.”

As the name implies, Gundersen’s whole-tree architecture uses the natural shape of trees, from their round trunks to their branches, to create structures he says are sturdier than structures built from milled lumber.

Milling a tree takes away 50 percent of its strength, Gundersen said.

“We as a little business in the middle of the woods in Wisconsin have found that there’s this huge, gaping lack of understanding of what trees can do for us structurally in buildings,” Gundersen, 48, said. “Buildings have to not only stand up to gravity, but also winds and earthquakes. Trees are really good at that.”

But so far, Gundersen’s work still functions in a niche market. He and his business and life partner, Amelia Baxter, point to one major obstacle to reaching a wider market: building codes and standardization.

While the curvy features of a whole-tree house produce an aesthetic more personal than the boxed subdivisions sprawled across the country, that distinctiveness takes craftsmanship.

“It’s a huge mind shift for architects and builders and people’s aesthetic to allow an unmachined product in their space,” Baxter said.

The couple is working on getting grants to collaborate with Forest Products Laboratory, the national wood research laboratory for the U.S. Forest Service, which has developed codes and standards for wood products.

Mark Knaebe, forest products technologist for the lab, said Gundersen’s method of using branches to anchor a ceiling at several points can create a stronger structure than supporting ceilings with columns 15 feet away from each other.

And by using wood that would normally be used for firewood or pulp, Knaebe said, the method adds value to forest products.

But he said the method will likely remain a niche, as getting building inspectors on board will be difficult.

“We’ve got to come up with a standardization that’s going to work across the board,” he said. “When these two-by-fours go through the machine, they’re labeled for what they can do and used appropriately. If you’ve got this wild piece of wood, it’s very difficult to determine how strong it is. You can’t just run it through a machine.”

But Gundersen says they can easily oversize products to exceed the standards, and he and Baxter are hoping other forces will expand their market.

As it only takes a hatchet, a chain saw and a pickup truck to start the business, Gundersen said, so startup costs are smaller than funding a milling operation.

And by improving the health of forests and developing local economic structures in construction, they see the method as the way forward for creating jobs and improving forest health.

“To build with whole trees requires an understanding that our society can no longer expect the speed and convenience of very ungreen, ecologically unsound construction,” Baxter said. “I’m not certain one can do a viable business and stay in line with one’s true environmental beliefs, but I hope so.”

Joe Orso writes for the LaCrosse Tribune in Wisconsin. Contact: joe.orso@lee.net .