A Good Hard Look at Wood
Building materials don't get any greener than
wood, the only building material that is renewable,
recyclable and produced entirely by solar energy.
Its performance in building projects has long
established wood as a practical, affordable and
efficient material, especially in home construction.
Courtesy Sustainable
Forest |
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The growing emphasis on sustainable construction
is spawning a wide range of co-conscious innovations
in wood, from forestry and manufacturing practices
to building design and new product development.
Naturally, Jim Snetsinger, is an advocate for
wood, particularly for sustainable forestry practices
that promote diversity. As chief forester for
the Province of British Columbia, he is responsible
for setting the annual harvest of 223 million
acres in western Canada, an area twice the size
of California.
"We are trying, here in B.C., to manage
natural landscapes, and to keep those landscaped
as diverse as possible," Snetsinger says.
"Diverse forests are more resilient, more
disease-resistant and support wildlife in ways
that plantations cannot. We replant with trees
native to the area and discourage mono-culture
planting. Nor do we genetically modify our planting.
We do collect the best seeds we can find so that
we reforest with parent material that has the
best chance of growing fastest and tallest."
Specifiers today have many "green"
options: formaldehyde-free composite wood panels,
arsenic-free pressure-treated lumber, engineered
products with high-recycled content. Medium density
fiberboard (MDF) is manufactured from waste sawdust
and is fabricated without formaldehyde. Oriented
strand board (OSB) is made from relatively low-cost
timber species that are fast-growing and non-controversial.
Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) is an engineered
wood product manufactured with waterproof adhesives
to pressure-bond wood veneers with grains running
parallel to the long dimension of the lumber.
LVL's demonstrate a greater ability than dimensional
wood in long spans. They carry greater loads and
do not shrink or deform, like dimensional lumber.
For example, says Snetsinger, the University
of Northern British Columbia, which utilizes Laminated
Veneer Lumber long spans "has done a remarkable
job of building with wood" and has achieved
designs in which glue-lam beams substitute for
what in the U.S. typically would be steel or concrete
beams.
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