As the demand for sustainable building options continues to rise throughout the world, many wholesale lumber suppliers are offering a range of green building materials. Many of these materials offer benefits such as reduced maintenance costs, greater design flexibility and energy conservation.
Below is a look at nine types of green building materials wholesale lumber suppliers sell.
Wood
Wood offers quite a few advantages from an environmental standpoint over more industrial building materials, such as steel or concrete. Trees absorb carbon dioxide while growing and require less energy-intensive methods for processing into usable construction products than some other materials. It is also important to note that forests that are properly managed are renewable and can have biodiverse habitats.
Bamboo
Bamboo might be trendy at the moment, but it has been used as a locally-sourced building material in some parts of the world for thousands of years. It offers tensile strength and is lightweight. In addition, it regrows incredibly quickly regardless of the weather conditions, so it is considered renewable. In fact, it often continues to spread and grow without any need for replanting after harvesting.
Although many people believe that bamboo is a type of wood, it is technically a perennial grass. It can be used for constructing frames, walls, floors and supports and has a pleasing appearance. Best of all, it is incredibly long-lasting, so it is a great material for flooring and cabinetry that will stand the test of time. However, it does need to be treated to resist insects and rotting.
Reclaimed Wood
If your wholesale lumber supplier offers reclaimed wood, this can serve as a very environmentally responsible way of saving trees and reducing the amount of lumber that is found in the country’s landfills. Reclaimed woods are often sourced from retired barns, home remodeling contractors, salvage yards, shipping crates and excavation companies.
It is ideal for cabinetry, flooring and structural framing, although each piece should be checked for its structural integrity and assessed for its suitability to the project at hand. Some reclaimed wood may need reinforcement or additional treatment to help prevent degradation.
Cordwood
Cordwood construction uses short round pieces of wood that are similar to the type of wood that is used as firewood. It is a resource-efficient approach to building that uses wood that might not otherwise have much value. These pieces of wood are laid down one above the other and then bonded together using a special mortar mix to create a strong and environmentally friendly structure with a charming appearance.
Building with cordwood is similar to laying rocks in mortar. Walls created from cordwood boast good insulation and require no further finishing, making this a very green approach.
Timbercrete
Timbercrete is a unique building material made by combining sawdust with concrete. The result is lighter than concrete, which means transportation emissions are lower, while the sawdust component is a great way of reusing a waste product and replacing some of the more energy-intensive components of more traditional concrete. This material can be formed into blocks and bricks.
Eco-Friendly Plywood
Not all plywood is green, but some wholesale lumber suppliers stock eco-friendly plywood products that are made from sustainable tree plantations and created using a completely green production process.
Straw Bales
Some wholesale lumber suppliers might offer straw bale, a green building material that can be used for framing thanks to its excellent insulating properties. It also works well for soundproofing. Non-load bearing walls can be filled using straw bales. Straw bales provide some resistance to fire because air cannot pass through them.
Engineered Wood Products
To some degree, engineered wood products can be considered environmentally friendlier than other options because they are often sourced from fast-growing trees and do not impact old growth forests. They make more efficient use of wood from smaller trees and underused species, and they are easy to work with using basic power tools.
Cork
Some wholesale lumber suppliers may offer cork, which is a bark that can be harvested from living trees that then continue to grow and produce more cork. This resilient and flexible material can handle pressure, making it suited to floor tiles, while its noise-absorbing power makes it ideal for insulation sheets. In addition, it absorbs shock well, making it a popular choice for sub-flooring. It does not absorb water or rot. It is also very light, which means less energy and emissions are needed to ship it across great distances.
Reach Out To Our Green Building Team
Green building approaches allow you to carry out your construction and home projects with the environment’s best interests in mind. By using renewable or reused resources, you can do your part to help protect the environment. At Curtis Lumber & Plywood, our green building products are chosen with quality and durability in mind, which means you do not have to make any sacrifices when choosing green building materials. Contact us today to learn more about the green building plywood products we offer.
