Wood Products
Wood has been used for centuries for fuel, construction, tools and more. Advancements in research and technology are finding new and better uses for this sustainable natural resource.
Construction
Tall Buildings Made From Wood? You Better Believe It (Temperate Forest Foundation)
Advancements in technology and the processing of timber have allowed wood to become competitive with concrete and steel as the materials of choice for larger construction products.
Environmental Benefits of Wood Floors (National Wood Flooring Association)
Wood floors are the most environmentally friendly flooring option available. Unlike other flooring materials, the raw materials used to make them – trees – can regrow after they are cut down, which replaces the material that is harvested.
Plywood as a Construction Material (Understand Building Construction)
Plywood is an economical, factory-produced sheet of wood with precise dimensions that does not warp or crack with changes in atmospheric moisture.
U.S. Wood Products – Good for Jobs, Rural Communities and the Environment (American Wood Council)
Life cycle assessment studies show that wood is better for the environment than fossil fuel-intensive materials such as steel or concrete in terms of embodied energy, air and water pollution, and other environmental impact categories.
Wood and Carbon Footprint (American Wood Council)
Using North American wood from responsibly managed forests also reduces a building’s carbon footprint in several ways.
Building With Wood: Proactive Climate Protection (American Wood Council)
The ability of wood to store large quantities of carbon for long periods of time sets wood apart from, and provides a signi ficant advantage over other building materials such as steel and concrete.
Environmental Performance of Wood vs. Concrete and Steel in Home Construction (The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials)
CORRIM presents the results of its study of the environmental performance of wood as a building material.
Inventors and Inventions – The 2×4 (Chronicle,Early American Industries Association)
The invention of the 2 x 4 is widely attributed to Augustine Taylor, a little-known builder who decided about 1833 that if mills could cut lumber to fixed dimensions it would be possible to build houses with hollow walls and more or less standardized shapes.
How Plywood is Made (How Products Are Made)
Plywood is made of three or more thin layers of wood bonded together with an adhesive. Each layer of wood, or ply, is usually oriented with its grain running at right angles to the adjacent layer to reduce the shrinkage and improve the strength of the finished piece.
From the Woods: Incredible Wood (Penn State Extension)
Wood is a natural and versatile material. This four-page, full-color publication explores the wide variety of wood products and uses for wood.
Fuel
A Guide to Biomass Fuels in North Carolina (N.C. State Extension)
North Carolina has abundant biomass resources from the forestry and agriculture sectors that can be used as alternative fuels to meet heating demands for many residential and industrial applications.
Producing Firewood from Your Woodlot (N.C. State Extension)
Firewood removal can contribute to timber production and other management objectives if the woodlot owner carefully decides when, where, and how to cut that firewood.
Entertainment/Sports
Guitar Wood: A Guide to the Tonewoods Used in Guitar Building (Stringjoy)
The type of wood, along with how it is treated in the factory, will determine what the instrument looks, sounds, and plays like.
Only the Finest New York Ash (Forest History Society)
A brief history of the baseball bat including a discussion of why ash is the best wood for making them.