Eastern White Pine: Offering Environmental Advantages & Design Versatility
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As a species of wood prevalent in northern New England, Eastern White Pine is known for its characteristic knots and as a building resource that can be used both structurally and cosmetically. While the species has become a versatile wood of choice for both traditional and contemporary design and construction, Eastern White Pine is increasingly being recognized as the energy efficient, environmentally sound building material that can be skillfully incorporated into any home design.
As the world’s only renewable building and natural construction matter, wood has the best environmental attributes among all building materials. When compared with other materials, such as concrete and steel, the product lifecycle of wood achieves negative CO2 emissions; a critical factor when gauging environmental impact. Wood also depends very little on non-renewable energy sources for its production, which is important when looking at its lifecycle or “cradle to grave” picture. But, considering architect and designer William McDonough’s “Cradle to Cradle” approach to design—using materials that biodegrade and become nutrient for another process after their useful life has ended—wood may in fact be the most environmentally-preferred building material we have.
Consider insulation as an example in determining environmental impact and efficiency. To start, we know that the cellular structure of Eastern White Pine provides a very effective and environmentally friendly insulator against heat and cold. Studies also validate that an inch of wood is 15 times as efficient an insulator as concrete, 400 times as efficient as steel and 1,770 times as efficient as aluminum.
The use of Eastern White Pine is not only energy efficient because it's an exceptional insulator, but versatility allows it to adjust and accommodate where necessary; thereby offering additional environmental benefits. Such benefits are quite apparent when looking at a home sheathed with Eastern White Pine, a building technique that produces strong and well-insulated structures that require less energy to heat and cool. Combining its superior insulating capabilities with its versatility, Eastern White Pine meets the most demanding energy needs with less cost and greater efficiency.
In addition measuring efficiency, research experts are also interested in analyzing the environmental impact and performance of building materials. Their findings continue to validate wood as superior in its environmental performance to both steel and concrete. According to the Athena Model, developed by Canada’s Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, when comparing houses constructed of these three different building materials based on the lifecycle assessment—production of greenhouse gases/solid waste, air/water pollution, and energy use—wood is the most environmentally practical.
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Sustainability Attribute
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Wood
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Steel
|
Concrete
|
|
Total energy use
|
Lowest
|
140% more
|
70% more
|
|
Greenhouse gases
|
Lowest
|
45% more
|
81% more
|
|
Air pollution
|
Lowest
|
42% more
|
67% more
|
|
Water pollution
|
Lowest
|
1900% more
|
90% more
|
|
Solid waste
|
Lowest
|
36% more
|
96% more
|
|
Ecological resource use
|
Lowest
|
16% more
|
97% more
|
|
Source: Athena Institute
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The Athena Model compares wood, steel, and concrete from resource extraction, to manufacturing, to on-site construction, to building occupancy, to building demolition, and ultimately to the building material’s disposal, reuse, or recycling. Based on the findings, wood’s high insulating properties, recycling and resource recovery rates, and low pollution rates in harvesting and milling, constitute it as the most sustainable and environmentally friendly building material.
While all building materials originate in some form from a natural source, ores and petroleum used for non-wood building materials are non-renewable, meaning once they are used they are gone forever. Wood, however, is renewable and can be regenerated by way of healthy growth and frequent replanting. Impressively, with average reforesting activities leading to an additional 2 billion new trees planted every year in the U.S., the forest products industry is responsible for 41 percent of all replanted forest acreage. So it is both the sustainability of material and end-use that is important to keep in mind.
When looking at the use of different building materials over time, the superior properties of Eastern White Pine offer multiple environmental benefits. It produces low energy consumption and CO2 emissions, is biodegradable for disposal, is naturally renewable, generates little pollution, and offers greater potential for re-use than other materials.
Overall, with a good strength to weight ratio, reasonable pricing, energy conservation benefits, and workability; Eastern White Pine’s natural attributes make it uniquely suited to both the performance and environmental demands of modern building materials.
For more information on the benefits and applications of Eastern White Pine, visit EasternWhitePine.org. Those looking for additional tools and resources about lumber grades, visit the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA) at www.nelma.org.
