Part 1- Wood and Engineered Wood

Pause and Reflect- What wood should we select during a home renovation? What factors should we consider?

We will look at wood and engineered wood concerning the Life Cycle Thinking and the Five R’s:

Wood

Life Cycle- Considerations:  Wood is a renewable material and requires less energy than most materials to process into finished products. However, logging, manufacture, transport, and disposal of wood products have substantial environmental impacts. Standard logging practices cause erosion, pollute streams and waterways with sediments, damage sensitive ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and lead to a loss of soil carbon. The key to reducing these impacts is the minimization of wood use by substituting suitable alternatives, reusing salvaged wood, selecting wood from responsibly managed forests, controlling waste, and minimizing redundant components (Kubba, 2009, p.174).

Engineered Wood

Life Cycle- Considerations: Engineered lumber is manufactured by pressing or laminating together the strands, particles, fibers, or veneers of wood with a binding agent to form a composite material. Although it may be more durable, engineered-wood products also have some disadvantages; for example, they require more primary energy for their manufacture than solid lumber. Furthermore, the adhesives used may be toxic. A concern with some resins is the release of formaldehyde in the finished product, often seen with urea-formaldehyde-bonded products. Cutting and otherwise working with engineered-wood products can therefore expose workers to toxic constituents that could potentially cause harm (Kubba, 2009, p.174).