On a full cradle-to grave basis, the carbon footprint of all the products on ‘The Wish List’ is 0.61 tonnes of CO2 equivalent
March 23, 2015 – The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading international trade association for the American hardwood industry, has announced its participation at Interzum 2015, which will be held from May 5 – 8, 2015 at the Koelnmesse Exhibition Center in Cologne, Germany. Held every two years, the show is the world’s largest trade fair in the sector and is a must-see event for everyone aiming for success in the market for furniture production and interiors. AHEC will be taking several pieces from ‘The Wish List’, a unique collaborative project between some of the world’s best-known design names and up-and-coming designers, which was a massive success and draw at the London Design Festival 2014.
Commissioned by AHEC and brought to life by Benchmark Furniture, the compelling installation had an extended stay at the Victoria and Albert Museum and helped demonstrate the versatility of American hardwoods and the ability to experiment with designs both big and small. As part of the project, the famous commissioners worked with up and coming designers, who not only developed the designs, but then actually made the pieces solely in American hardwood with the help of Benchmark’s craftsmen. In addition, assessing the environmental impact of each object using data from AHEC’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research added another unique dimension to this extraordinary project.
“On a full cradle-to grave basis, the carbon footprint of all the products on the Wish List is 0.61 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. That’s less than the carbon footprint of one person on a return flight from London to New York. Equally astonishing is the fact it took 2 seconds to replace the trees in the forest that produced the 13m3 of American hardwoods used to make The Wish List pieces,” said Roderick Wiles, AHEC Director for Africa, Middle East, South Asia and Oceania. “This will be the first time The Wish List will be shown in Germany and the aim is to inspire the design community to use more American hardwoods.”
The decision to take ‘The Wish List’ to Interzum follows AHEC’S successful showcase of seven pieces from the collection in Barcelona in December last year. The pieces were on display at the Disseny Hub as part of the ‘Design Market’, organized jointly by the promotion design company Mercado Central de Diseño (MCD) and the design association ADIFAD. As the hub for all things design in Barcelona, the Disseny Hub was the perfect platform to exhibit the pieces and the museum itself asked for the ‘Wish List’ to remain on display until 7 January 2015 so that members of the public would have a chance to see it.
“In addition to ‘The Wish List’, a team of AHEC staff and consultants will also be on hand to discuss AHEC’s marketing strategy and answer questions on a wide range of current issues relevant to U.S. hardwoods; including EUTR compliance, LCA research, potential for thermally modified hardwood and structural applications, NHLA lumber grading, and the recently launched American Hardwood Environmental Profile (AHEP). Participating at Interzum 2015 helps further our role to help specifiers and other decision-makers develop a greater understanding of wood as a viable, suitable and environmentally-friendly material for numerous applications, which should, in time, lead to greater use of this wonderful and sustainable resource,” concluded Wiles.
About AHEC:
The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is the leading international trade association for the U.S. hardwood industry, representing the committed exporters among U.S. hardwood companies and all the major U.S. hardwood production trade associations. AHEC runs a worldwide programme to promote American hardwoods in over 50 export markets, concentrating on providing architects, specifiers, designers and end-users with technical information on the range of species, products and sources of supply. In addition, AHEC also produces a full range of technical publications. For more information, please visit: www.americanhardwood.org.