Quality Products with the Environment in Mind

All construction impacts and effects the environment, but IWS recognizes that selecting the right materials for a project can significantly reduce the damage brought about by construction.

As environmental awareness continues to grow worldwide, many designers and contractors are beginning to select materials, and employ methods, that will have the least impact on the environment. The natural choice of environmentally conscious builders when selecting materials is wood. Wood is the only major building material that is renewable. Natural wood uses the sun’s energy to fuel the renewal process and consumes less energy and resources than its steel and concrete counterparts.

Studies performed by the Canadian Wood Council (CWC) found that structures designed with steel and concrete released 24% and 47% more air pollution respectively than wood structures. These studies also rendered alarming figures in terms of the depletion of resources brought about by the energy-intensive processes used to produce steel and concrete. The CWC found that steel requires 26% more energy to produce than wood, and concrete consumes 57% more.

IWS Wood Products’ utilization of composite pieces such as Glulam & Parallam in our heavy timber packages reflects our concern for the environment. The production of Glulam & Parallam requires the use of smaller wood pieces and smaller trees, thus consuming less energy and renewable resources than traditional wood construction.


To read more about the environmental benefits of building with wood, visit:
www.cwc.ca
www.apawood.org