Giving New Life to Trees

Heritage Radio Network Radio Intervew

2011-11-11T10:51:00.006-05:00

Listen to Citilogs interviewed on the Heritage Radio Network, click here!

This week on Burning Down the House, Curtis is joined by Stubby Warmbold and Andrew Tomlinson of CitiLogs. CitiLogs is the leader in upcycled and repurposed wood and building products. Tune in to hear more about how their company turns unwanted or unused urban trees into building products through a sustainable and responsible process. Find out how they plan on reintroducing the black locust into the market learn about urban sawmills. This episode was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons.

Citilog Donates for Earth Day

2011-05-06T14:31:00.016-04:00

Citilog donated urban tree logs for seating at the Kensington CAPA High School to support the 2011 DVGBC Earth Day of Service to fix up their playground. This took place in Philadelphia, PA. Volunteers came out to show their support for Earth Day on April 30th, 2011. They were there to do some gardening work, painting, and help with the sustainability fair taking place. Here are some of the pictures of our donation to their cause...

Spring is springing...

2011-03-16T13:45:00.004-04:00

The early signs of spring are upon us, and we are beginning to smell the sweet fragrance of budding blossoms. If you hail from Pennsylvania down to Alabama, then it may be one budding blossom tree in particular the Robinia Pseudoacacia or more commonly know as, black locust.

The black locust is a tree that has been in our history since the beginning. As part of the Fabaceae family, it is native to the southeastern United States but grows everywhere from Pennsylvania to Alabama to Wisconsin. It favors the Appalachain chain region as well as the Ozark Plateau for the humid climate and the sandy, loamy, well-drained soils in open sunny locations. The tree itself reaches heights of anywhere from 30 to 80 feet with a diameter of about 3 to 4 feet. A young black locust has a more green bark while the older locusts have a dark, deep, and shaggy bark.

The black locust wood is extremely durable and rot-resistant, two reasons that generation after generation have utilized this special wood. Originally the black locust wood was used to make fence posts and wagon wheels. Farmers began planting small groves of the black locust trees on their farms so as to utilize the wood in the coming years. Black Locust trees grow at a rate of a quarter inch per year, so it was not long before the farmers could be using their trees.

Here at Black Locust Lumber and Citilog we use this 17th century business model in our day to day work. We find that by incorporating our natural resources and power into todays world it helps to keep with the ways of our ancestors and to keep this planet healthy and alive. You may ask yourself how do we do this at a small lumber company in New Jersey of all places? Well we use real horse power (Buck and Bill) to remove the logs from the sites and use a system called upcycling with your trees. Upcycling entails that we take your wood that would have been tossed and turned it into a finished product. We try and use as much as possible so not to create waste. Where as our ancestors were using black locust wood to create fence posts, wagon wheels, and railroad ties, we have now expanded to using it for everything from decking, seating, siding, trellises to speciality projects like garden applications and sun baffles.

That is just a brief little synopsis on the black locust wood. With Spring in the air things around the office are really starting to pick up. It is proving to be an exciting new year!

So get out there and enjoy the earths rebirth, renewal, and regrowth that is Spring. Keep your eyes open for a black locust tree, you never know where you might find one!

NEWS!

2011-01-07T10:57:00.002-05:00

The CitiLog company has been featured in Timber Frames Unlimited Newsletter. Follow the link to read more details about our company and what we're up to! Timber Frames Unlimited- Why do tree people dance?

A New Year, a New Yard...

2011-01-03T14:43:00.007-05:00

Now that it is 2011 some of us start planning our outdoor projects for the spring and summer while we're still cooped up in the house. An ideal species for decking, patios, fences, trellis' and gardens is Black Locust. This is a locally harvested hardwood that is also rot-resistant and GREAT for outdoor applications. This FSC Certified Black Locust will last well over 50 years without significant decay. Black Locust is not pressure treated nor is it harvested in tropical regions over seas, making it a more responsible environmental choice. Contact Black Locust Lumber or go to their website www.blacklocustlumber.com for further information. All products are custom sawn to your specifications and shipped ready for installation. So get those projects drawn up and remember Black Locust as your go-to wood for outdoor applications!

Introducing CitiLog Newark

2010-12-15T13:22:00.012-05:00

So what happens to those trees that come down in cities due to storms, construction or hazard?

We've got a solution that takes this tree "waste" and turns it into valuable product locally! After years of hard work the horizon is here and we're looking to manufacture wood products, produce renewable energy, provide permanent green collar jobs, including job training for disadvantaged youth and we're local to boot!

We're going to be collecting downed trees in the area from tree services, municipalities, utilities, Recycle America and construction and demolition jobs. We'll divert this raw material from the waste stream by hauling it to our Newark Urban Sawmill and turn that waste into finished product. These products will include commercial wood products, industrial wood products, heat and power and of course our one of a kind upcycling standard where we take your downed trees and turn them into a custom finished product. (www.citilogs.com) Our products include everything from flooring, molding, cabinetry, and custom furniture to your pallet parts, railroad ties, and tree stakes.

There are excellent social and environmental benefits to this endeavor. Socially, the Sawmill

will employ 56 men and women to stimulate local employment. A huge effort will be put into the job training for disadvantaged youth as we set out to equip young men and women in prisoner re-entry programs. This training will provide them with OSHA work safety skills, knowledge of chainsaw and mill equipment, as well as forklift and finger-jointery operating skills. The long term goal is to make our youth more marketable with their acquired skills for multiple jobs in related fields. The program will also supply each participant with a documented work history including evaluations and an opportunity to continue employment with CitiLog.

Environmentally, all material will come from the waste stream. We will not intentionally take trees down to maintain feedstock. By using these trees as product we are diverting them from contributing to the already overfilling landfills. Carbon is sequestered in all of our products by elongating the life of the tree. We strive to achieve carbon neutrality on site as we produce sustainable energy with a fiber-fueled CHP system. The site is set out to achieve LEED Platinum in our collaborative work with Fitzgerald Architecture Studios and Barry Isett & Associates, Inc.

We're excited to get this ball rolling as there is a long road ahead of us! Stay tuned for updates!

Carbon Sequestration

2009-06-10T10:04:00.011-04:00

Take a moment and take a deep breath. The quality of the very oxygen we breathe is dependent on the environments that surround us no matter where you are in the world. When it is in danger or threatened by an outside factor we must respond and make a change. This is all we hear environmentalists speak of today. Our governments have even decided to take action on the issue Reuters Article-Where Should the Feds Draw the Line on Green Marketing Claims?. The dreaded word- CARBON. Whether you believe we created the rise in carbon or not- we must take responsibility for our actions. What if we as a responsible society, instead of cowering at the threat of carbon take initiative to capture it, put it to use, educate one another with it and even enjoy it? Our trees can offer this.

Did you know trees are composed of nearly 50% carbon? Through the process of photosynthesis the trees that surround us remove carbon and use it as food. When the trees are diseased, dead and dying or our growth intersects their paths the trees fate can ultimately contribute to carbon emissions. As mentioned in our introductory article, instead of burning or chipping these trees up into small pieces for mulch or waste and releasing carbon into the atmosphere we can literally lock up the carbon. An alternative option for throwing the logs into already overflowing landfills we look to detain the carbon by turning this "waste" into tactile product. Citilog is sequestering the carbon in a progressive way.

Lets say a tree lives and provides oxygen for 100 years. When the tree nears the end of its life the wood is still good. Citilog takes the wood and upcycles it locking the carbon into tables, chairs, flooring, siding, timber frames, benches or bowls for hundreds of years. The tree can be returned to its original site, or taken to new site for use, education and enjoyment for all.

The Avalon Barn: a perfect illustration of carbon sequestration by Citilog. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is an insect that feeds on the Hemlocks in the Northern Atlantic region. It took the life of a handful of Hemlocks on the property Avalon Parks & Preserve. Without turning the trees into waste the park upcycled the dead and dying trees for multiple uses in the same project. The Hemlock provided the heavy timber framing which will last for 200 years or more as is. Once the timber frames serve their purpose they can be re-sawn into floor boards, furniture, etc. obtaining hundreds years more of use. If you really want to contribute to full circle recycling the products could then be ground up into mulch or saw dust depending on size and returned to the soil to begin the cycle all over again. This cycle is what William McDonough refers to in his catch phrase and book "Cradle to Cradle". Aside from heavy timber, the hemlock also supplied gorgeous flooring and siding for the project.

Trees are a critical resource that we must recognize as an opportunity. These trees can not only survive one life cycle, but in fact sustain multiple efforts in repurposing. The trees are in your hands, choose wisely.

Trees: Detriment or Value?

2009-06-02T11:06:00.005-04:00

Trees provide shade, oxygen, and are aesthetically appealing. It is a shame when our need for expansion aligns head on with the trees on our property, or when trees disrupt our built environments. We cannot stop our growth, so the trees must go. Instead of ripping out the trees and grinding them up into mulch, or throwing them into the already over-flowing landfills there is a light at the end of the tunnel. What if Citilog took these trees from our sites and upcycled them into beautiful finished wood products? Trees can be transformed into useful casework, flooring, furniture, fencing and outdoor structures for years to come. We have the opportunity to memorialize the trees we love and enjoy, but need to remove. Why not repurpose them, giving them value that can educate and be appreciated by generations to come? And at the same time sequestering the carbon in a local environment... imagine that.