Wood is an eco-friendly material with low embodied carbon emissions and long lifespan. Additionally, its wood fibres store carbon which was taken up during growth which helps offset any greenhouse gas emissions produced during its use.
Recyling irregularly shaped waste wood can be challenging, but SBDC provides a solution. It processes offcuts into new components while recording 3D information and wood parameters into its database for easy reconfigurability.
1. It’s a renewable resource
Wood is a renewable resource that requires significantly less energy to produce than materials such as steel and concrete, and also boasts very low embodied energy – which measures the total amount of energy expended during extraction, processing and delivery to a building site.
Cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose are three unique organic polymers that form the primary structure of wood cells. Cellulose is the longest of these polymers and contributes most of wood’s rigidity while lignin adds structural strength. Hemicellulose connects cellulose and lignin together while carrying out other essential functions, such as mitigating moisture content fluctuations through reduced dimension change as moisture content fluctuates or deterring decay agents as well as providing multiple moisture sorption sites – each species unique roles that contribute to wood’s unbeatable versatility!
And as an added benefit, forests also act as natural carbon sinks which help mitigate climate change. According to Life Cycle Assessment studies, solid wood has a lower net-negative carbon footprint compared to brick or concrete construction materials.
Forest resources are becoming strained from industrial wood use. YourFoRest takes its responsibility seriously by encouraging local timber purchases and funding tree planting efforts – aligning with new green building thinking which seeks to make sustainability visible in finished spaces, with large expanses of wood used as an indicator that creates truly eco-friendly buildings.
2. It’s durable
Wood is an exceptional building material, especially when compared to concrete and steel. With a superior strength-to-weight ratio and excellent insulation properties, wood makes an ideal structural material that also resists weather damage better than its competitors. Wood also stands up better under earthquake conditions than its rivals.
Wood’s durability stems from natural sources, including its species’ natural resistance to decay fungi and insect infestation. But its ability to withstand such forces depends on how the material is utilized; good design plays an instrumental role in determining how long wooden structures will remain standing.
Denser woods tend to possess greater natural durability due to higher amounts of lignin and hemicellulose content; these polymers act as an internal structural matrix for binding cellulose molecules together while adding toxic elements that deter potential decay organisms. Hemicellulose also offers numerous moisture sorption sites which help minimize water loss through wooden cell walls.
Wood’s resilience extends far beyond its inherent stiffness; it can easily bear large loads when applied across its grain, while also holding up well against sustained compression forces that exert constant compression forces over an extended period. These qualities make wood an excellent material choice for buildings regularly occupied by people subject to heavy loads.
3. It’s versatile
Wood is an extremely flexible material for sustainable design projects, making it a fantastic choice in sustainable architecture. Wood can easily be worked into flooring, walls, ceilings, beams doors and windows applications; plus its processing requires significantly less energy than alternative options such as aluminum or steel.
Wood from sustainable forestry programs can even be carbon neutral; any carbon released through harvesting and burning as fuel is offset by new growth that acts as a carbon sink.
Wood’s use in multi-story buildings can significantly lower emissions compared to concrete or steel construction, providing superior thermal insulation properties as well as design flexibility through CLT systems and solid configurations.
Wood can also contribute to significant energy savings and an expedited construction process, as demonstrated by Crescent Real Estate and their partner companies OZ Architecture, KL&A Engineers & Builders and Adolfson & Peterson Construction with their construction of Platte Fifteen office building in Denver Colorado.
As a result of these findings, increasing wood use in multi-story buildings could offset an estimated 21 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually – that’s equivalent to taking off nearly 4.4 million cars!
4. It’s recyclable
Wood may be beneficial to the environment when used for construction and furniture purposes; however, it’s essential that we remember trees don’t last forever and to conserve this natural resource it is imperative that wood waste be recycled or repurposed whenever possible so as to minimize waste and avoid more trees having to be cut down for production of products made with wood.
Unfortunately, not all types of wood can be recycled the same way as paper is. Solid wood must first be taken to a facility dedicated to recycling solid wood before it can be turned back into materials that can be used again. Reusing recycled wood helps lower energy consumption since compared with virgin materials it reduces their energy needs when produced.
There are countless ways to repurpose wood. Pallets can be recycled into furniture or garden sheds; mulch can cover erosion issues; railroad ties or utility poles may even be treated to become fences, barriers or other structures if treated.
Reusing wood not only helps save resources but can help preserve forests for future generations. YourFoRest recognizes this, which is why they plant trees at every project they take on and encourage clients and designers alike to plant trees as part of preserving this essential natural resource.