USDA study finds wood is a top green building material

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American Forest Foundation welcomes results of USDA study on wood's environmental benefits.

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The American Forest Foundation welcomed a new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing that wood is a superior green building material, with environmental benefits that outweigh many other common building materials.

The study, "Science Supporting the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Using Wood and Wood Products in Green Building Construction," analyzed a life-cycle assessment of green building materials. The USDA study found that growing, harvesting, transporting, manufacturing and using wood produces less air pollution – including greenhouse gasses – than concrete, steel and other material options.

“Giving the green light to wood as the green building material should dramatically impact the market for sustainably grown wood in this country,” said AFF President Tom Martin. “Healthy forests need healthy markets, and the green building market is expected to grow to a $173 billion industry by 2015. Secretary Vilsack is a champion for working family forests and understands their importance to America’s rural economies.”

Adhesives play key role in guitar construction

A variety of wood glues are used to assemble the 175 pieces in a six-string guitar. Matching the proper adhesive with the application is important for Taylor Guitars.

Identifying shake

Q: What is ring shake? How do we detect it in our oak lumber? Does this shake cause a bad odor or other manufacturing problems?

Grain moisture in glued-up oak panels

Q: I have just received some glued-up oak panels that we will be using for tabletops. One of our people noticed that the ends of the panels have developed some cracks and more cracks are showing up every 10 minutes it seems. Most of the cracks are at the glue joint at the end of the panels. The supplier says that our shop is too dry (25 percent to 30 percent RH is what we measure now during the wintertime). My people just checked the MC of many panels, including some that have yet to be unstacked and unwrapped; they are getting some readings as high as 10 percent MC (after correcting for temperature), with a lot over 8 percent MC too. We need an outside person to give us an accurate evaluation.

Stating the case for lightweight panels

Think Light: Innovative Lightweight Panels was held recently in Kentwood, Mich., organized by Virginia Tech and sponsored by FDM, Stiles Machinery and others.