DV Wise prefers to use engineered lumber on our new homes

When Trus Joist introduced the first engineered I-joist in 1969, it wasn’t to save the planet. It was to help save a building industry that depended on huge, old-growth trees that were quickly becoming scarce and more protected by regulators.

As home builders started using engineered structural lumber, including I-joists, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), finger-jointed lumber, glue-laminated lumber, and manufactured trusses, they embraced their strength, their extra-long lengths, and their ability to keep floors from squeaking.

“I think of engineered lumber as green,” says Baltimore remodeler Paul Lidard, “but I use it because it’s more convenient” than solid-sawn lumber. “Everyone’s in favor of it because you’re more in control [of how much is wasted]. But they’re not thinking of it as a green product.”

Perhaps they should be. In addition to the strength and consistency builders have long appreciated, engineered lumber boasts eco-friendly properties worth marketing to homeowners in this new era of environmental consciousness.

Green Beginnings

Made from small-diameter or lower-quality trees or from waste from wood-processing operations, engineered lumber is a combination of wood that is peeled, chipped, or flaked and then glued to produce a durable panel, stud, beam, or joist.

There’s no need to use whole trees, large trees, or old trees to produce engineered lumber products, so those resources can be conserved. In fact, engineered lumber is made with about half the wood fiber of solid-sawn wood. And because engineered wood is so strong, it’s not necessary for a builder to combine multiple, standard-size lengths to create a beam that stretches across a tall wall, a wide ceiling, or the floor of a huge room. Instead, the builder can order a board cut to a precise length—even if it’s very long—which means less cutting on site and less waste heading to landfills.

And, manufacturers like to point out, engineered wood, while a composite of different kinds of wood fibers, still starts as trees, which are renewable and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Some manufacturers are taking the additional step of incorporating wood from sustainably managed forests that are certified by programs such as the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Canadian Standards Association, and the American Tree Farm System. Manufacturers of engineered wood can earn certifications at different levels if they buy a substantial portion of their wood from sustainable forests and keep tabs on the chain of custody of the product.

Lingering Challenges

“I’m not sure why anyone would choose not to use [engineered lumber],” says green home builder Jon Alexander of Seattle-based Sunshine Construction. Aside from their environmental qualities, he adds, “I like their pretty darn consistent quality. When you order one of them, you know what you’re getting.”

Still, the product, which APA-The Engineered Wood Association predicts will increase significantly in production and use over the next five years, costs more than solid-sawn lumber in most markets, leaving some builders ambivalent about pitching it to potential buyers.

“I would prefer to use all engineered wood if I could, but that’s not the case,” says Lance Hobson, owner of Legend Builders in Paco, Wash., which builds 24 homes a year—mostly on spec—and uses engineered I-joists in all of them.

For custom homes, however, he offers the buyer the option of paying the 6 percent to 8 percent more he estimates a home would cost if he used engineered wood exclusively, and he has only had two takers, who were focused on building green homes.

Engineered wood is a hard sell, he says, because “without going into the negatives [of solid-sawn wood], there’s no way to tell the positives. If I told them that [traditional] wood would warp, crack, and split, I’d be casting a doubt over the workmanship of the homes I built with wood.”

At Winchester Homes in New Market, Md., sales staff tell potential buyers about the benefits of engineered wood, but the builders decide where to use it. “If they want a big, open space, engineered wood is what we’re going to go with,” says Randy Melvin, the builder’s director of research, standards and design assurance. “If they want a less-squeaky floor and the flatness of the floor is important, we use engineered wood.”

Tim Mosely, brand manager for Canfor, notes that most buyers don’t know what kind of wood builders use in their homes. “The benefit is really more to the builder than the actual home buyer,” he says.

Mosely notes that the green benefits are growing as manufacturers develop sophisticated software that helps builders order and cut precise lengths. Software from Boise Cascade, iLevel by Weyerhaeuser, and others allow builders to accurately specify the amount and types of materials needed, so builders buy less, avoid overbuilding, and waste less.

“Wood is a green building product, engineered wood is extremely green, and Boise’s design process makes the whole thing even greener,” says Boise spokesman Dale Robley, who notes that the industry is gravitating toward electronic designs that limit the need for paper for drawing them or gas for delivering them.

“You go to a typical jobsite and you see these piles of waste every night,” Robley says. “There’s absolutely no excuse for that anymore.” — BUILDING PRODUCTS

Most structural engineered wood is glued together with binders that contain phenol formaldehyde, a product with minimal off-gassing.

The binders used for some non-structural, interior-grade products, like particleboard, MDF, and hardwood plywood, however, can contain urea formaldehyde, a volatile compound that is classified as a carcinogen. Urea formaldehyde is also linked to respiratory problems, eye and nose irritation, and allergic reactions. The telltale sign of its presence: the sweet smell that most new kitchen and bathroom cabinets emit.

New regulations in California will restrict urea formaldehyde emissions, but do not deal with phenol formaldehyde. In response, manufacturers are developing formaldehyde-free binders, using products like polyurethane and even soy. Last summer, the California Air Resources Board adopted new caps on the amount of urea formaldehyde used to bind wood products used indoors, to take effect in 2009.

By:Sharon O’Malley

http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/green-building/engineered-green-lumber-green-selling-point.aspx

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