Wood is an ideal green building material for many reasons. Among them:

Renewability and Sustainability

Sustainable forest practices have led to the steady regeneration of North American forests, which actually expanded by 10 million acres during the 1990s and two million acres between 2000 and 2005. North American forests cover about the same area of land as they did a century ago — even though 97% of homes are framed with wood and North Americans use more wood per capita than anyone else in the world.

Less waste

Today's forest and lumber manufacturing practices maximize the use of raw materials while minimizing waste.

In the forest, 95% of each harvested tree is used to make products, while the remaining 5% is left to biodegrade and enrich the soil.

In the mill, engineered wood products such as I-joists and OSB are made from small flakes of wood that used to be considered waste. Products such as finger-jointed studs and trim boards allow the use of small pieces of lumber which, when glued together, yield straight material without knots or imperfections. Wood chips can be mulched and used for landscaping or animal bedding, and even sawdust and bark can be burned for energy.

Less energy

Wood products require less energy during manufacture, help save energy when used inside the home, and waste less energy when the home's useful life ends and it has to be dismantled and recycled. Wood makes up 47% of raw materials produced in the United States but only utilizes 4% of the energy consumed during production.

Steel products require eight times more energy to produce than wood products. Steel also allows greater heat and cold induction from outside walls, which means additional foam insulation must be added.

Growing Forests Help Fight Global Warming

Carbon dioxide (CO²) and other greenhouse gases are thought to be a major cause of global warming. However, thanks to modern forestry practices, wood use contributes to forest regeneration-and growing forests act as carbon sinks, taking CO² out of the atmosphere and releasing clean oxygen. The CO² is stored until the wood decays or burns. As a result, forest regeneration helps to offset the carbon dioxide released through, among other things, electricity generation, industrial processes, vehicle use and home energy consumption.

For more information on wood's environmental benefits:

Athena Life Cycle Assessment
CORRIM Environmental Impact Study