Why wood?

How is wood a sustainable material?

This article is in sync with our mission to enhance woodcraft culture that ensures a harmonious coexistence between human activities and the natural world.

 

Wood is one of the oldest raw materials known to humankind. It has been called the material of the future, and that is no accident. Wood stands out as the ultimate sustainable resource on our planet, uniquely combining raw and eco-friendliness. It is beautiful and has remarkable functional properties. The spectrum of wood varieties is boundless, ensuring there’s a perfect wood solution for every preference and requirement. By incorporating wood into our spaces, we actively contribute to the well-being of humanity and our natural surroundings.

Why wood?

Naturally growing, wood has the innate ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Subsequently, wood products serve as massive CO2 storage, effectively storing carbon from the atmosphere initially absorbed by growing trees. Wood’s charming natural patterns and textures have been scientifically proven to support mental well-being, instilling a sense of coziness and tranquility. This, in turn, lowers blood pressure and regulates heart rate, stress, and anxiety levels while promoting positive social interactions. Its affiliation with nature gives the wood an inherent calming influence when integrated into our living spaces.

In addition, wood exhibits the remarkable ability to exchange moisture with its surroundings, offering a shield against sudden fluctuations in humidity and temperature. As a natural insulator, wood further enhances its ecological qualities.

Remarkably, the production and processing of wood requires significantly less energy, called embodied energy, than most other building materials, resulting in wood products with significantly reduced carbon footprints. Wood’s potential to replace materials relying on extensive fossil fuel consumption for production underscores its environmental importance.

In the construction field, where embodied carbon emissions significantly impact global greenhouse gas emissions, responsibly sourced wood is emerging as a compelling choice. Beyond considerations of operational emissions, such as those related to energy and transport, the recognition of carbon emissions associated with building materials is becoming increasingly important. The many benefits of incorporating responsibly sourced wood extend far beyond environmental protection.

How is wood a sustainable material?

There is no building material in the world that combines utility, availability, and sustainability as well as wood does. That is why it is no coincidence that it has been a preferred raw material for interiors, surfaces, household goods, and construction in recent years. Let’s look at several aspects of what makes wood sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Wood is renewable

The renewable nature of wood is its key advantage. Cut-down trees can be replaced by planting new trees and sustainable forestry. New trees bring additional benefits, such as extra carbon storage, oxygen generation, and forest habitat.

It is important to note that we are talking about responsibly harvested wood. In certified forests and plantations, the resource must be replaced within the same time period in which it is consumed – otherwise, its reserves will be reduced and can also have significant negative consequences such as deforestation, soil erosion, and disturbed biodiversity.

That’s why we at “Wood and Nature” Foundation oppose harvesting timber unless it is from sustainably and responsibly managed forests. Anyone undertaking a project that uses wood should ensure that they only work with renewable timber to protect the natural world and conserve resources.

Wood can be recycled and reused

Within landfills, wood is tragically squandered as a valuable resource. However, this neglected wood possesses immense potential, serving various purposes such as a building material, a source of mulch for enhancing landscapes, and pulp for paper production. Furthermore, its judicious utilization as a fuel source adds another layer of sustainability. Reusing and recycling wood not only diminishes the necessity to fell more trees but also alleviates the environmental toll associated with deforestation, leading to a reduction in both air and water pollution.

The multifaceted realm of recycled wood extends to an extensive list of applications, transcending the boundaries of domestic adornments to encompass the production of tables, chairs, and TV stands. It finds a second life in panel boards, which serve as versatile materials for decking, loft construction, and the canvas for artistic expression. As an abundant source of biomass, surplus wood invigorates energy production efforts. Additionally, low-quality wood makes an eco-friendly return to nature as mulches, compost, and protective coverings. Finally, recycled wood graces landscape surfaces across gardens, agricultural grounds, pathways, and children’s playgrounds, embodying a sustainable cycle of resourcefulness and eco-conscious choices.

Wood is durable

Wood, a naturally robust and lightweight material, possesses remarkable resilience against the formidable forces of nature, including wind, weather, and even natural disasters. This inherent strength arises from wood’s elongated and sturdy cellular structure, composed of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose within its cell walls. Even when transformed into wood products, these cells retain their ability to provide agile yet durable structural solutions, rivaling the strength of conventional building materials.

Consequently, despite its relatively low weight, wood products exhibit a remarkable capacity to endure substantial forces, especially when subjected to compression and tension forces aligned with the wood’s grain. To illustrate, a single 10 cm x 10 cm Douglas-fir square can support an impressive load of nearly 5,000 kg in compression parallel to the grain. Wood’s effectiveness as a building material shines in sustained and regular stress scenarios, making it an excellent choice for structures bearing high loads over extended periods.

With a history spanning thousands of years, wood has displayed its resistance to heat, frost, corrosion, and pollution. Its only vulnerability lies in its exposure to weathering. Issues such as rot and termite damage typically arise due to inadequate attention to construction details that subject the wood to moisture and sunlight or result from unsuitable timber selection.

Wood is biodegradable

An absence of waste characterizes the realm of timber production. Notably, the remnants and secondary products stemming from wood-related industries such as furniture manufacturing serve as valuable resources, contributing to the creation of chipboards and the generation of renewable heat and energy. This waste, being entirely biodegradable, undergoes gradual decomposition, ultimately reverting back to the earth and thus enhancing its environmental credentials. Furthermore, even wood previously employed in construction can find renewed purpose through milling and repurposing for various building and home improvement endeavors.

Even upon reaching the twilight of its lifespan, wood seamlessly returns its essential nutrients to the earth without requiring specialized treatment. Given suitable conditions, it undergoes a natural decomposition process, rendering it an excellent candidate for composting. In stark contrast, plastic can persist for up to a millennium before disintegration, while recycling or downcycling steel and concrete demands substantial energy inputs, albeit less than their initial production from virgin materials.

Trees and wood store carbon

Trees act as natural carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thereby reducing the overall carbon footprint of wood. Once wood serves as a “carbon store,” the absorbed CO2 is sequestered and kept out of the atmosphere. Consequently, wood is the sole genuinely sustainable construction material, with every cubic meter used in a building saving approximately one tonne of carbon dioxide. Opting for wood can have a substantial impact on carbon storage.

While resources are indeed expended in timber production, the long-term benefits outweigh the initial costs. An average hardwood tree, like alder or mahogany, annually captures roughly 22 kg of CO2 and various other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, ammonia, and sulfur dioxide from the air. Remarkably, once the tree undergoes transformation into wood for construction purposes, it securely stores the carbon dioxide for a period ranging from several decades to potentially hundreds of years.

Wood production and processing demand notably lower energy, known as embodied energy, than most alternative building materials, resulting in a significantly reduced carbon footprint for wood products. This makes wood an eco-friendly alternative to materials that require substantial fossil fuel inputs for their production. As a rule of thumb, exchanging one cubic meter of solid material, such as concrete or brick, for an equivalent timber volume eliminates roughly one tonne (1000 kg) of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Wood has a positive effect on health and wellbeing

Incorporating wood into a building’s interior offers tangible physiological and psychological advantages akin to the rejuvenating effects of spending time outdoors in nature. Reducing reliance on synthetic materials and integrating natural alternatives like wood effectively diminishes stress and anxiety levels within one’s living space. Wood’s innate capacity to evoke feelings of genuine warmth and comfort contributes to a decrease in blood pressure and heart rates, alleviating stress and anxiety, fostering positive social interactions, and enhancing an organization’s overall image.

These advantages carry particular significance in settings where integrating nature indoors proves challenging, such as healthcare facilities that face stringent health and safety constraints, restricting the inclusion of greenery. Likewise, in office environments with window views predominantly overlooking roads and neighboring concrete structures, the positive effects of wood become a valuable asset.

Final words

Amid growing apprehensions regarding climate change, the global community bears a shared duty to curtail carbon emissions, an obligation that extends to individuals and organizations alike. Responsible conduct has transitioned from being a choice to becoming an imperative. A straightforward means to enhance sustainability within the realm of construction and designing involves greater incorporation of wood-based products.

The wood is inherently eco-friendly and renewable and actively fosters recycling initiatives. Wood is easy to work with and is a material created and perfected by nature.