Tag: pvc

It’s an Eastern White Pine Smackdown!

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Following the initial EWP vs. Radiata Pine video comparison, it’s PVC Trim’s turn to go head-to-head to see who’s really the better choice of building material.  In this second of the series, Eastern White Pine and Polyvinyl chloride or better known as PVC (those plastic and composite derivatives sold under various brand names) are compared in the four categories of Environmental Friendliness, Authenticity, Biodegradable Realities, and Renewability…..all criteria EWP vs PVC Title Pageimportant to today’s consumers, builders, designers, and architects when considering the array of building materials available in the marketplace.

In less than 2 minutes the final outcome becomes crystal clear and never really in doubt! Eastern White Pine is the overwhelming winner when all the facts are visually displayed, summed up with closing statement that EWP is the “More Sustainable and Healthy Choice for our Homes and Planet”. The video battle ends with a reminder that Eastern White Pine has over 300 years of sustainable versatility in all aspects of home construction.

The outdated adage of “Better Living Through Chemistry” just simply isn’t true when it comes to making smart building material choices for a better world! Click here to view the latest in this NELMA video series. Turn up the volume, enjoy, and forward the website link to all you know who need the facts!

Eastern White Pine: A Greener Choice than PVC Trim Board

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

EWP-trim

PVC trim board products like AZEK are often touted as a low-maintenance alternative to wood trim for interior and exterior walls, in both residential and commercial building projects. But what’s the real cost of choosing this synthetic material over one that is natural and renewable? It’s true that PVC trim board, which is engineered to look like wood, is long-lasting and impervious to rot and insects. But so is Eastern White Pine – without the negative environmental effects. While some builders try to pass PVC off as ‘green’ due to its durability, in truth, it’s anything but.

Polynvinyl Chloride has become a very common building material over the last half-century, with over 30 million tons of it used every year. According to the Healthy Building Network, which calls it “the antithesis of a green building material,” PVC poses major environmental and human health hazards throughout its manufacturing, use and disposal. Its production represents the largest use of chlorine gases in the world, a group of chemicals that have come under scrutiny in recent decades due to the unusually severe hazards they tend to pose.

Many of the chemical mixtures used to make PVC haven’t yet been identified or tested, and some of these chemicals have been found to bioaccumulate, meaning they build up in the tissue of living things. The basic materials, additives and byproducts of PVC have been found to cause cancer, disruption of the endocrine system, reproductive impairment, impaired child development, neurotoxicity and immune system suppression. The Healthy Building Network is calling for PVC to be phased out as a building material.

On the other hand, Eastern White Pine is a renewable resource grown in sustainably managed mixed hardwood forests that maintain the balance of natural ecosystems and provide homes for a wide variety of wildlife. This inexpensive and truly eco-friendly building material, which is commonly used for interior and exterior trim board, has many of the benefits of PVC without the serious drawbacks. A traditional building material used in historic Northeastern United States homes for centuries, Eastern White Pine boards provide greater stability and less movement than any other product on the market after being acclimated properly to its new environment.

Photo: NELMA