Engineered Lumber's Green Attributes Provide Another Selling PointFringe Benefits

When Trus Joist introduced the first engineered I-joist in 1969, it wasn't to save the planet. It was to help save a building industry that depended on huge, old-growth trees that were quickly becoming scarce and more protected by regulators.

As home builders started using engineered structural lumber, including I-joists, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), finger-jointed lumber, glue-laminated lumber, and manufactured trusses, they embraced their strength, their extra-long lengths, and their ability to keep floors from squeaking.

"I think of engineered lumber as green," says Baltimore remodeler Paul Lidard, "but I use it because it's more convenient" than solid-sawn lumber. "Everyone's in favor of it because you're more in control [of how much is wasted]. But they're not thinking of it as a green product."

Perhaps they should be. In addition to the strength and consistency builders have long appreciated, engineered lumber boasts eco-friendly properties worth marketing to homeowners in this new era of environmental consciousness.

Green Beginnings

Made from small-diameter or lower-quality trees or from waste from wood-processing operations, engineered lumber is a combination of wood that is peeled, chipped, or flaked and then glued to produce a durable panel, stud, beam, or joist.

There's no need to use whole trees, large trees, or old trees to produce engineered lumber products, so those resources can be conserved. In fact, engineered lumber is made with about half the wood fiber of solid-sawn wood. And because engineered wood is so strong, it's not necessary for a builder to combine multiple, standard-size lengths to create a beam that stretches across a tall wall, a wide ceiling, or the floor of a huge room. Instead, the builder can order a board cut to a precise length—even if it's very long—which means less cutting on site and less waste heading to landfills.

And, manufacturers like to point out, engineered wood, while a composite of different kinds of wood fibers, still starts as trees, which are renewable and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Some manufacturers are taking the additional step of incorporating wood from sustainably managed forests that are certified by programs such as the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Canadian Standards Association, and the American Tree Farm System. Manufacturers of engineered wood can earn certifications at different levels if they buy a substantial portion of their wood from sustainable forests and keep tabs on the chain of custody of the product.