Hawaii has some of the highest construction costs in the nation. But what if there was a source of cheap, locally produced building material that was also good for the environment? It turns out there may, in fact, be one: wood. Joseph Valenti is an architect and Project Leader for the Hawaii Wood Utilization Team. He recently completed a prototype structure built entirely from albizia, a fast-growing invasive.

This story originally aired on Hawaii Public Radio's public affairs talk show The Conversation.