Not many materials go from raw natural resources to finished products with fewer steps than cedar. Even the mud that covers adobe walls requires more handling. With cedar, a tree is felled, barked, cut, and dried; that’s it. And cedar has uses inside and outside the house, all of which provide livability upgrades while remaining environmentally responsible.
For one thing, few other materials can be created again. The ingredients used to make metals, concrete, plastics, and other building products depend on limited natural resources. All it takes to make more wood is land, seeds, and time. Unlike other extractive industries, timber growers are able to reinvest in future production. Forest-products companies large and small understand that their stewardship today will determine their success tomorrow. According to industry groups, North American forests have grown 20 percent since 1970.
Nearly half of the industrial materials manufactured in the US are wood products. To produce that much material, you might expect the wood products industry to consume nearly half the energy used in manufacturing. But in case you missed that detail, here it is again: production of wood products takes up roughly four percent of the energy used in making building materials.
Making steel consumes more than twice the energy, and making concrete consumes at least four times as much. The LEED system uses several criteria for judging a building project. The principles underneath those criteria are reducing energy use, reducing resource use, minimizing pollution, and reducing environmental impact. Wood products perform exceptionally well in all four areas.
The Athena Sustainable Materials Incentive in Canada compared the environmental effects of wood with those of steel and concrete. Wood had the lowest impact on total energy use, greenhouse gases, air pollution, water pollution, solid waste, and what they termed ecological resource use. Wood is also less expensive to transport to or use at a building site.
One more unique property of wood products: during the entire time it takes for a tree to mature, it consumes carbon dioxide and produces oxygen. The environmental benefits of using cedar begin the moment each new tree is planted. The benefits continue from there. Western Red Cedar is dimensionally stable; it seldom changes shape through shrinking, swelling, or warping in all climates. This stability is unique among softwoods. It holds nails, screws, and glue well, and is easy to work with. Without other treatment, cedar resists moisture, insects, and decay.
Roughly half the energy consumed in the average house goes to space conditioning - heating, cooling, and ventilating. This makes insulation a high priority for controlling energy expenses, especially in climates with extreme temperatures. Wood is an excellent insulator, making it ideal for framing. However, despite its natural resistance to decay and insects, cedar is not as well suited as other species, such as Douglas fir or southern yellow pine, for building.
Priced by the board foot, cedar is more expensive than pressuretreated lumber, in part because it is more pleasant on the eyes and the nose. Concealing it inside walls would only hide some of its most desirable features. Its aromatic properties and hearty appearance make it ideal for lining closets, encasing exposed beams, framing windows, and so on. Even these are uncommon, though. Most of the cedar used for building stays outside.
You can use cedar for a variety of outdoor building projects, from decorative items to the very surface of your house. Other outdoor projects that make good use of cedar include fences, gates, arbors, trellises, and gazebos. One thing that applies to all outdoor cedar projects held together by nails or screws: use only corrosion-resistant fasteners, such as aluminum, hot-dipped galvanized, or stainless steel. Stainless steel, while more expensive, is generally considered the best choice. All other metals are likely to corrode, leaving stains that diminish the look of the cedar.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Samantha Elther at 01092011
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