Sustainability
Wood is the right choice for a host of construction applications. It is the earth’s natural, energy-efficient, and renewable building material. The miracle in today’s engineered wood products is that they make more efficient use of the wood fiber resource to make stronger plywood, oriented strand board, I-joists, glued laminated timbers, and laminated veneer lumber. That’s good for the environment and good for designers seeking strong, efficient and striking building design.
American landowners plant more than two billion trees every year. Besides, millions of trees seed naturally. Forests fully cover one-third of the United States’ and one-half of Canada’s landmass. The forest products industry, which comprises about 15 percent of forestland ownership, is responsible for 41 percent of replanted forest acreage. That works out to more than one billion trees a year, or about three million trees planted every day. This high rate of replanting accounts for the fact that each year, 27 percent more timber is grown than is harvested. Canada’s replanting record shows a fourfold increase in the number of trees planted between 1975 and 1990.
Manufacturing wood is energy efficient. Wood products made up 47 percent of all industrial raw materials manufactured in the United States and yet consume only 4 percent of the energy needed to build all industrial raw materials. For every ton of wood grown, a young forest produces 1.07 tons of oxygen and absorbs 1.47 tons of carbon dioxide. This is good news for a healthy planet. Wood is a perfect material for the environment, for design, and strong, lasting construction.
