Environmental Credentials

Wood offers the builder or designer several environmental advantages over common, alternative building materials. Namely:

• Wood is a renewable resource;
• Wood products store carbon dioxide;
• Comparatively, the manufacture of most wood products requires smaller amounts of energy; and
• Residues generated through the processing of wood can be reused in a variety of positive ways.

As the articles throughout this section discuss, in a world increasingly concerned with reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, wood is a building material that can deliver the designer both environmental and performance benefits. Thus, by ensuring sustainable forest practices and regenerating this natural product there are real possibilities to significantly improve the environmental credentials of the building and construction industry by choosing wood.