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Building for the Next 100 Years with Timber, Wood Fiber, Already Embedded Carbon with Jonathan Orpin

Author

Charlie Cichetti
September 10, 2026

QUICK TAKE

What if the greenest building innovation isn’t waiting around the corner — it’s already here?

New Energy Works founder Jonathan Orpin makes the case for building better now, using durable timber structures, wood-fiber insulation, off-site construction, and mass timber to tackle carbon without sacrificing craft or economics.

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🌱BREAKING GROUND ON BETTER BUILDING

[Key Insight #1] Build the enclosure like a blanket — and attack thermal bridging from the outside

  • What's outdated: Conventional assemblies can introduce thermal bridges through studs and other structural components, while some insulation products carry significant global warming impacts of their own.

  • The innovation: New Energy Works wraps its timber structures with exterior insulation and has increasingly shifted toward wood-fiber insulation. The company uses dense-packed wood fiber in cavities and rigid wood fiber outside the structure to break thermal bridges. Jonathan points to domestically manufactured wood-fiber insulation made from lower-grade trees as an especially exciting evolution.

  • Impact: Better thermal performance can reduce operational energy demand, while wood fiber provides a lower-carbon insulation strategy. Off-site panelization also helps move work into a controlled shop environment, reducing field labor and accelerating installation.

[Key Insight #2] Stop treating mass timber as “next.” It’s ready now

  • What's outdated: Concrete and steel remain foundational materials for commercial construction, but Jonathan argues their carbon impacts create an opportunity for lower-carbon structural alternatives.

  • The innovation: New Energy Works is expanding its glulam and mass timber work on commercial projects, bringing wood into structures that might otherwise have relied more heavily on concrete and steel.

  • Impact: Mass timber gives project teams another lever for addressing embodied carbon while creating highly crafted buildings. For Jonathan, the bigger opportunity is implementation: Green Building professionals already know enough to make better material decisions today.

[Key Insight #3] Sustainability includes building companies—and buildings—that can outlast their founders

  • What's outdated: A durable building means little if the knowledge, culture, and values behind it disappear. Jonathan sees the same longevity challenge in business ownership as he does in construction.

  • The innovation: New Energy Works became 100% employee owned through an ESOP as part of a long-term succession strategy. Jonathan is now preparing to transition from CEO to executive chair while searching for a leader who will preserve the company’s commitment to community, craft, and People, Planet, and Profit. His advice to that future CEO is simple: listen, learn, then lead.

  • Impact: Employee ownership creates a pathway for workers to participate in the value they help create while giving the company a succession mechanism designed to preserve its culture and mission. For founders, succession planning can turn decades of work into an organization capable of continuing beyond them.

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✅ CONNECT AND CONTINUE

🌿 Access full episode resources: Green Building Matters Podcast 

📄 Read the transcript: HERE

🔗 Connect with Jonathan Orpin:

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