Q: Why Buy Certified?
A: As a consumer you have the comfort of knowing that the products you buy meet high environmental and social standards. You ultimately have the financial power to influence forestry practices by the decisions you make.
As an architect, you provide the assurance that the materials you specify are in conformance with good forestry practices that will ultimately transform the marketplace. You also stand to benefit from LEED™ credits in the buildings you design for your clients and their ultimate satisfaction.
From a woodworker perspective, you have the confidence that the materials you use come from well-managed forests and perform to green specifications. This will ultimately create greater demand for certified materials in the marketplace.
Q: Why can’t I get the color of my lumber to match veneer?
A: Lumber rarely matches the veneer color due to the fact that veneer logs are cooked in vats for several days at high temperatures. This gives the veneer log a more uniform consistent color.
Most lumber purchased by our customer base is from mixed logs in different geographical regions. These facts, along with the lumber not being cooked, lead to differing colors, grains and textures within the lumber itself.
Q: Are there environmental advantages to using wood products?
A: Yes. Trees are a renewable resource. Most alternative materials come from nonrenewable resources, such as the petrochemicals used in making plastics and the ores used to make aluminum, iron and other metals.
Wood is also the most energy-efficient building material available today. When you compare the total energy costs of different kinds of building material - including the cost to acquire the raw material, transport it, process it into a useful product and then actually use it - wood far outshines its competitors. Steel wall studs require almost 9 times more energy to produce than do wood studs. A brick veneer wall requires 22 times more energy than wood siding, while aluminum siding requires 21 times more energy to produce than does an equivalent wood floor. In addition, forest products are recyclable and biodegradable. |
