Compared to many other building materials, harvesting and milling framing lumber releases relatively little carbon. But most lumber also requires removing trees that could still be capturing carbon if left in the forest. In addition, leaving the roots and branches of cut trees to rot in the forest contributes to atmospheric carbon. The combined impacts make wood a less than optimal material for lowering a building's carbon footprint.
Compared to many other building materials, harvesting and milling framing lumber releases relatively little carbon. But most lumber also requires removing trees that could still be capturing carbon if left in the forest. In addition, leaving the roots and branches of cut trees to rot in the forest contributes to atmospheric carbon. The combined impacts make wood a less than optimal material for lowering a building's carbon footprint.

Online lumber and building materials marketplace Yesler named Michael Welch as vice president of sales. In the role, Welch will lead the sales and customer experience program for the company. Prior to joining Yesler, Welch held roles at New Relic, Thales, Verivo, Safenet, and Microvision.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to advance the use of technology in a traditionally non-tech-forward industry like lumber and building materials,” Welch said. “I think there’s a lot of reliance on old processes and old ways of doing things. Technology can be your friend. And Yesler isn’t replacing anything or anyone.”

Seattle-based Yesler Marketplace is a platform of software tools built specifically for managing and optimizing the buying and selling of lumber and building materials. Buyers organize their buying activities using Yesler, communicating directly with their suppliers, requesting and organizing quotes, and keeping all of the history in one place, according to the company.

“We are delighted to have landed an experienced sales executive like Michael,” Matt Myers, founder and CEO of Yesler, said in a news release. “He brings to Yesler over 25 years of sales experience, at all levels, with expertise in solving problems and creating value for customers. Furthermore, Michael is also a great teacher. He will take the lead in building out, over time, an impactful sales organization.”