Lumber: What You Need to Know

An excerpt from “The World at Home: A Household Guide to Building”
By Laura McCarthy, Program Associate
 Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, 2007 www.cectoxic.org

Many wood products are harvested unsustainably, tearing apart intact ecosystems and removing old-growth trees. Due to rapid growth in construction, there is increasing pressure to log the few remaining stands of these ancient trees around the world. According to a 2006 Greenpeace study, North America destroys 10,000 square kilometers of ancient forests every year (http://www.intactforests.org)! Using Forest Stewardship Council (FCS) certified lumber, wood reclaimed from other sites, and sustainably produced engineered lumber can take the pressure off old growth trees. 

Other factors that make wood “green” include its durability, and whether or not it’s local – since, like all materials, there are energy costs (and therefore carbon emissions) associated with transporting it. Builders will often be faced with the difficult decision of shipping sustainably harvest lumber long distances or settling for a more local lumber source that may not be harvested with the future in mind.  

To make sure the wood you use has been harvested sustainably, look for the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification. They are independent, non-profit, supported by environmental groups worldwide, and have a reliable chain or custody system which enables them to track wood from the forest floor to the consumer. FSC also has a rigorous set of criteria for managing forest lands, including protecting the rights of indigenous people who live in and utilize the forests. The Forest Stewardship Council was founded in 1993 by conservation and forest sustainability groups including Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and World Wildlife Fund, and is the only wood accepted for United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. Using FSC lumber may add to lead time, as it can be more difficult to procure. 

There are many other types of wood certification programs which have different standards for what they consider to be sustainable.  For example, The American Forest & Paper Association has developed its own program for its members, called the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). They have weaker standards and no credible chain of custody to keep out illegal wood. FSC lumber offers the greatest certainty that you are buying lumber directly from a sustainably harvested forest. Keep in mind that if a company has FSC certification, it does not mean that what is being sold is FSC-certified. Many companies that have FSC "Chain of Custody" (COC) certification, which gives them the right to buy and sell FSC-certified wood, but it doesn’t mean they sell much of it at all. This is particularly the case in the wood flooring industry. Large retailers including Home Depot and Lowe’s have committed to purchasing FSC and otherwise certified lumber, however, not all sales associates are aware of what FSC means. If you want to be certain you are getting FSC certified wood, make sure the product itself is labeled.

More information about the Forest Stewardship Council is available on-line at www.fscus.org.FSC.   They also have an FSC product finder form at http://www.fscus.org/faqs/fsc_products.php.

Local mills and lumberyards may be a good place to start looking for FCS certified wood.  If you live in upstate New York, Saranac Hollow Lumber in Saranac, NY www.saranachollow.com offers FCS certified products.  Other lumber centers may be able to special order the lumber you’re looking for. 

The Rainforest Alliance has compiled a “SmartGuide,” listing companies who offer FSC certified building materials.  Find this extremely useful PDF by searching “SmartGuide” from the Rainforest Alliance main page. www.rainforest-alliance.org

Rather than using newly-cut lumber, you can choose lumber from a building that has been deconstructed – taken apart carefully to allow reuse of the components. Many reclaimed pieces of lumber are high quality, tightly grained pieces – often better quality than wood available on the market today. Vintage wood can be salvaged from weathered barns and old train trestles, often giving its appearance more character. The labor intensive process of taking apart old homes and barns can make these components more expensive than new lumber, and more difficult to find. If you have a renovation project that involves demolishing part of an older house, consider asking the contractor to carefully deconstruct that portion of the house and reuse the materials for the renovation project. While it may cost more in labor, it will save resources, landfill space, and money for disposal costs. 

For sources for reused building supplies in New York State, see our list at end of this guide.

PRESSURE TREATED LUMBER

Until recently, chromated copper arsenic, known as CCA, was the common chemical compound for pressure treated lumber. EPA cancelled CCA-treated lumber for residential use due to the extremely harmful health effects of arsenic poisoning and chromium exposure, however it is still available for commercial and industrial use. Instead, look for ACQ, (Alkaline Copper Quatenary) or CBA (Copper Boron Azole) treated lumber, both of which require use of hot-dipped galvanized or stainless steel fasteners to prevent premature rusting. Both ACQ and CBA are available at home supply stores.  Plastic lumber, described below, is another alternative to pressure treated wood for outdoor use.

Wood sheet products like oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood are used for sheathing, sub flooring, and in some cases, siding. As old growth resources have gotten scarcer and thus the timber has gotten more expensive, people have sought engineered lumber. As a result, there are now many different products that get their strength from resins and glues, and rely on bits of wood from smaller trees and wood from fast growing “plantation” trees.
Examples of engineered lumber include wood that is glued and laminated together known as glulams; laminated veneer lumber and plywood; wood I-joists which are similar to steel I-beams, used to replace large timbers for floors and ceilings joists; and oriented strand board (OSB) made from small bits of wood layered in perpendicular directions.  Most of these are glued together with urea formaldehyde based adhesives or methyl diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). Exterior grade plywood is made with phenol formaldehyde, which can still be harmful, but off gasses much less that urea formaldehyde. Columbia Forest Products has completely eliminated formaldehyde from its standard veneer-core panel production by developing a non-toxic, soy-based adhesive for plywood called PureBond. In addition to safer adhesives, look for plywood and other wood products made from Forest Stewardship Council certified lumber.

The benefits of engineered lumber include that they use smaller trees, reducing pressure on old growth forests; because they are created by humans, they are more reliable and consistent; and they are stronger than similarly sized all-wood timbers. However, engineered lumber requires more energy to produce, and the manufacturing process requires the use of some toxic materials in the resins. While engineered lumber is important and can offer affordable substitutes for large-sized lumber, for long-term ecological sustainability, we will need to find other solutions.

PLASTIC LUMBER

Although it sounds environmentally harmful, plastic lumber substituted for pressure treated, outdoor use wood has “green” potential. Plastic lumber reduces lumber use and can utilize the safest forms of post-consumer recycled plastic. A recent report by the Healthy Building Network evaluated the environmental impact of 30 types of plastic lumber, finding one third of these to be “most environmentally preferable.” The report recommends that consumers favor products with the highest levels (50% or more) post-consumer plastics which are associated with fewer chemical hazards and impacts (like high and low density polyethylene, known as HDPE and LDPE,), and those made by producers using resins from local municipal recycling programs. Avoid plastic lumbers that contain PVC, polystyrene, and fiberglass. Also avoid plastic lumber made from non-recycled plastics. To learn more about the results of this report and a list of the most environmentally preferable products, go to the Healthy Building Network website www.healthybuilding.net.

BAMBOO

Bamboo, a type of woody grass, has been gaining widespread popularity as a building material – in most cases, as a sustainable flooring option. The sustainability of bamboo continues to be a question as folks weigh its fast growth and durable consistency with the need to transport it overseas which contributes to its embodied energy. There is speculation that some bamboos manufacturers clear-cut forests in China and elsewhere to create bamboo plantations and rely on sweatshop labor. 

As with everything, do your research and take a comprehensive lifecycle approach. With different manufacturers, consider whether the bamboo grower uses pesticides, has clear-cut existing bio-diverse forests or displaced local communities. Many bamboo product makers investigate these aspects and will certify their products come from correctly managed lands.  Teregren Bamboo products are among a growing number who are low-VOC, advertised to be sustainability harvested and widely available. Go to www.teragren.com to find a local retailer. For more information on bamboo grown in the US, check out the Northeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Association www.americanbamboo.org, which is located in Albany, NY.

OTHER NON-WOOD PRODUCTS

Products such as “Plyboo” Bamboo Plywood, “Dakota Burl” (made from sunflower seed husks), “Durapalm” Coconut Palm Plywood, Kirei Board (made from reclaimed agricultural fiber from the Sorghum plant) and wheat board are all sustainable options that are becoming more available for sheathing, wall coverings, furnishings, floors and counter tops.  Bettencourt Green Building Supplies www.bettencourtwood.com has more information about many of these products, with links to their manufacturer’s websites. There are also many particle board-like products made from wheat straw, such as PrineBoard and Stawboard which can be used in sheathing and subflooring.

Products including gypsum board (drywall or Sheetrock), strawboard and Homasote have been designed to replace plywood or particle board in many applications. Homasote is made of recycled paper and the manufacturer claims it was the sheathing of choice from the 1930s to the 1970s. Homasote also creates products that can be used in subflooring.

Resources for Lumber: What You Need to Know.

Bettencourt Green Building Supplies www.bettencourtwood.com   has information about natural lumber alternatives like “Plyboo” and wheatboard.

Forest Stewardship Council www.fscus.org.FSC  and www.forestethics.org  both have more information about sustainability harvested lumber.

Greenpeace’s report on the worlds remaining intact forests, can be found at www.intactforests.org/index.htm

Healthy Building Network www.healthybuilding.net  has a helpful report evaluating the feasibility of plastic lumber as a green building material.

Homasote Company www.homasote.com  produces Homasote as a lumber alternative.

The Rainforest Alliance www.rainforest-alliance.org has compiled a “SmartGuide,” listing companies who offer FSC certified building materials.