Wood – There Is No Substitute |
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 It takes nine times more energy to produce a steel stud as it does to produce a comparable wood stud. It takes five times more energy to produce aluminum siding rather than wood siding. It takes three times more energy to extract and produce a concrete block than to produce its equivalent weight of wood. Producing a 4” concrete slab floor requires 21 times more energy than producing a wood deck. Wood has 413 times the resistance to heat transfer of steel, 2000 times that of aluminum and 8 times that of concrete. |
 A steel frame building uses 4000 times more coal, oil, and natural gas to process than wood. Aluminum production results in 8 times the air emissions and 300 times the water emissions of lumber production. The production of concrete emits 2 to 3 times more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons than the production of lumber. Totally biodegradable wood waste accounts for only 7% of the volume of U.S. landfills. Totally NON-biodegradable plastics account for 25% to 30% of landfill space. |
 Wood is the only readily renewable natural resource and it is increasing in reserves every year. The total volume of wood growing in the U.S. is 25% greater today than it was in 1952. Even steel containing 60% recycled material consists of 40% virgin material that was mined from the earth and cannot be replaced. The synthetic materials industries (plastic, vinyl, etc.) rely on oil and natural gas for 98% of their raw materials, and the World Resources Institute estimates reserves of natural gas will last only 58 years at 1988 production rates. |
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Choose
Wisely - Choose Wood
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