Posts Tagged ‘old growth trees’

» Siding on your Side

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

One of the major aesthetics of a new home or even an existing home is its exterior skin.  There are many different types including stone, brick, metal panels and wood siding.  We are going to concentrate on siding.

Siding comes in many different styles, materials and colors.  When building Green, it is important to understand what type of materials that can be consider environmentally friendly.  In general, wood siding is not considered a very green product because the most durable solid wood siding products are harvested from old-growth trees like cedar. Cutting down old growth trees is not a good idea.  So in liue of cutting down our forests there are other sidings that can be used.

An affordable and durable product is a fiber cement board.  This type of siding is made of cement and wood fibers.  It can come prefinished or it can be painted in the field during installation. 

Another siding to consider is either aluminum or steel.  Unfortunately these have high upfront costs to produce but on the other side they are made mainly of recycled materials.  It is a bit of a trade off.

Engineered wood can be considered but it needs to be FSC certified engineered wood like hardboard or OSB board and be formaldehyde – free.

So when thinking of siding consider the aesthetics, practicality, and sustainability of your choice.

» Woody Wood

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Wood is a renewable resource if it is harvested in a sustainable manner. What types of woods are called sustainable?  The most popular types of sustainable woods are bamboo, cane (both of which are considered grasses), the mango tree, (which is a great fruit by the way), and the American favorite, maple.  Did you know that a maple tree could grow up to 18” in a year and who doesn’t love maple syrup!  For sustainable wood, look for recycled wood products, or wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as coming from well-managed forests.

 Trees are a major reason why we are able to survive on this planet.  We eat their fruit, we construct with their bounty and we breath their oxygen-(O2) while they help rid the planet of dangerous and ever present CO2.  That is why we need to make sure that the wood we use is stamped FSC or is one of the above-mentioned sustainable woods.

If you buy any lumber this weekend or even if you don’t, go out and plant a tree.  Just think everybody planted a tree tomorrow, that would be 6 billion trees.  Not bad for a days work.