Wood Facts 
Wood has been called the miracle resource. It is strong, versatile, used in many everyday products, and, most importantly, renewable. For much of the world, wood burning is still the primary source of energy for heating and cooking. It is the most common material used for construction. And it is found in many of the things we use daily; from paper and boxes to clothes and food.
Discover Cool Facts about a variety of topics... click away!
Tree Types & Identification
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A super resource is available at the online Hardwood Handbook, which has lots of great info on hardwood species.
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What does Aspen, Elm, Cherry, Teak, or Mahogany wood look like? Visit the Woodworkers Website Association to see plenty of wood type images online.
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WoodWeb has a great list of wood types to learn about, with images and extensive information.
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Woods of the World offers free online membership, with access to over 900 wood species and products. Examine the common names, common uses, distribution, environmental profile, physical and woodworking properties, and mechanical values of all these woods. With pictures, maps, and search ability.
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Wood
The 5 products of wood...
- Paper
- Panels
- Lumber
- Engineered Wood
- By-Products
- On the average, everyone uses the equivalent of a tree, 18 inches in diameter - 100 foot tall, every year. That's 80 cubic feet! [AF&PA]
- Inch to inch, wood is 16 times more efficient as an insulator than concrete, 415 times as efficient as steel, and 2,000 times as efficient as aluminum.
- We use more wood by weight than all other raw materials combined (i.e. Plastics, Steel, Aluminum, Concrete).
- The American market for household furniture was an estimated 50 billion dollars in 1996. California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and New York accounted for 37% of the total. About 80% of the furniture was wooden or wood framed.
- Wood products make up 47% of all industrial raw materials manufactured in the U.S., yet uses only 4% of the energy needed to manufacture these industrial materials.
- Aluminum siding requires four times more energy and brick veneer 22 times more energy to produce and transport to the building site than do equivalent wood sidings.
- Concrete floors need 21 times more energy to produce than do wood floors.
- 94% of all new homes are built with wood frames.
- The average single-family home (2,000 square feet) can contain 16,900 board feet of lumber and up to 10,000 square feet of panel products.
- Trees are a renewable resource. Actually, it's the only building material that is a renewable resource. Most other building materials come from non-renewable resources: the petro-chemicals used in plastics and the ores used for aluminum, iron, etc. Forest products are also recyclable and biodegradable - in 1993, 13.6 million tons of wood were recovered for recycling and reuse in products ranging from particleboard and paper to garden mulch. More than 95% of the bark and wood residues generated from producing lumber and plywood are used for energy and in other products.
Wood as a Renewable Resource
From California Forest Products Commission Website
Every building product we use comes from natural resources, and we are depleting those resources quickly. Since 1955, we have all consumed twice as much steel and wood, 4 times as much cement, 5 times as much plastic, and 7 times more aluminum than all of humanity before us combined. Of all those natural resources, only wood is renewable. In fact, U.S. forests are increasing at a rate of nearly 33% each year.
Wood is the most efficient, most ecologically friendly building material we have. There's been a lot of talk about using other materials to reduce our dependence on wood, but when you look at the facts, it doesn't make sense.
- Wood is the only 100% renewable, recyclable, reusable and biodegradable building product we have.
- Production of trees is powered by the sun. Steel, aluminum, plastic and concrete require using non-renewable gas and petroleum.
- Known oil reserves will last less than 50 more years at the current rate of consumption.
- Each year, 37% more trees are grown than are harvested in the U.S.
- The total volume of wood in U.S. forest lands is 25% greater than in 1952.
- Trees actually help clean the air. As they grow, they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Trees lock in the carbon, returning it to the soil when they decompose, instead of releasing it into the air and contributing to pollution.
- Wood is naturally biodegradable. When it decomposes, it enriches the soil.
Wood vs. Steel
- It takes 9 times as much energy to produce a steel stud than a wood one
- Steel consumes 4,000 times more coal, gas and oil to mine and produce than wood.
- Making steel releases 15 times the sulfur dioxide and 27 times the nitrous oxide as wood.
- Steel requires 25 times more water to manufacture than wood.
- Emissions from gas used in steel processing have increased 900% since 1950.
- Emissions from oil used in steel processing have increased 500% since then.
- Wood is more energy efficient in a building, with an R-rating (a measure of insulating ability) 413 times greater than steel.
Wood vs. Concrete
- It takes 21 times more energy to produce a concrete slab floor than a raised wood floor.
- Producing concrete emits up to 3 times more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons than manufacturing lumber.
- Wood has an R-rating 8 times greater than concrete.
Wood vs. Aluminum
- It takes 5 times more energy to produce aluminum siding than wood siding.
- Producing aluminum generates 8 times more air emissions and 300 times more water emissions than lumber.
- Wood has an R-rating 2,000 times greater than aluminum.
- Aluminum requires large amounts of energy to recycle.
- It's estimated we'll run out of bauxite, the main ingredient in aluminum, in less than 200 years.
Wood vs. Plastic
- Plastic is made from non-renewable petrochemicals.
- Plastic is not biodegradable. It remains in its current form for at least 500 years.
- Plastic recycling requires toxic chemicals that can make the process dangerous and costly.
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From a Tree
From California Forest Products Commission
- Nothing goes to waste in the forest. Thanks to modern technologies and management techniques, every part of a tree is put to good use.
- Sophisticated machines like feller-bunchers make it economical to harvest small trees and other biomass.
- In most California sawmills, laser-guided saws are linked to computers that maximize the utilization of the log. The use of these technologies has resulted in almost no waste and more useable wood for the consumer.
- Sawdust is used as fuel, or turned into products like artificial logs and bedding for farm animals and household pets.
- Chippers turn small trees and branches into fuel. Sawmills burn the chips to power the electrical generators that in turn run the sawmill. Some operations are so efficient they generate excess electricity they can sell to power companies. More than 1/2 the energy used in making pulp and paper, and 3/4 of the energy used to manufacture lumber and wood products is self-generated.
- The ash that remains after burning is used as a soil amendment by farmers, or in filters to purify water. Some is even combined with cement and fiber and formed into roof shakes that look like cedar, but are more fire and rot resistant.
- Small pieces of wood that used to be burned or dumped are turned into laminated and glued products, some stronger than solid wood.
- Bark is used for fuel, or for landscaping products.
- Even rocks picked up during harvesting are separated and used for building roads.
- Branches and needles are left on the forest floor to prevent erosion and damage to the soil. As they decompose, they return valuable nutrients for the next generation of trees.
Click here for a massive list of things we use from a tree...
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