For instance,
• Wood is natural, organic, renewable, nontoxic, recyclable and bio-degradable.
• Wood conserves energy! Turning a tree into sawn wood or veneer requires less energy and produces less pollution compared to the large amounts of electricity and heat needed to produce other materials. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and other gases are also greater during the production of substitute building materials. For example, CO2 emissions are 3 times greater when producing steel.
• Wood also helps to conserve energy by serving as a good thermal insulator in construction, especially in window and door applications.
• Wood is natural, it is a raw material found in great quantities all around the world. Over 1/3 of the Earth's land surface is covered by forests!
• Wood is organic. Healthy and growing trees absorb carbon dioxide and release pure oxygen. For every ton of wood grown, a young forest produces 1.07 tons of oxygen and absorbs 1.47 tons of carbon – dioxide.
• Wood is renewable, more and more trees are planted all the time. Trees need only light, water, some nutrients, air and time in order to grow. In the U.S. alone, about 4 million seedlings are planted every day! In Indonesia, for example, over 1 million acres are reforested annually. This high rate of replanting accounts for the fact that each year, 27 percent more timber is grown than harvested. Fossil fuels, like coal and oil, take millions of years to replace. Metals, cement, plastics and brick are not renewable.
• Wood is non-toxic. In its natural form, it does not release any toxic gases or fumes into the atmosphere.
• Wood is recyclable, it can be re-used and re-worked and put into different shapes and sizes over and over. A single piece of wood can be utilized many times before it loses its properties and usefulness. And, wood is still the major source of fuel in many parts of the world.
• Wood is bio-degradable, it will de-compose on its own and return to the earth's cycle. Research done all over the world demonstrates that specifying wood will save energy and reduce CO2 emissions.
Aad, let's not forget that wood is just plain beautiful! |
