The Ask For Wood website was designed to help forest landowners, foresters, conservationists and others to learn about the connection between wood and paper products and healthy forests, a better environment, and improved rural economies. Resources found on this website can be used to educate yourself and your circle of influence, including your community, your clients or your local government. Increasing wood and paper use starts by talking to others and teaching them more about the many current and potential uses for wood and paper products, especially in the non-residential construction market.
As overall sustainability becomes increasingly important in construction, using one of the oldest building materials and renewable resources makes sense! With innovative building designs available, there are new opportunities to expand wood use in nonresidential construction. As a renewable resource that sequesters carbon, wood and paper products have significant environmental advantages over competing materials. Using wood and paper products serves to encourage ongoing forest management that contributes to cleaner water and enhanced biodiversity.
The nonresidential building sector historically has not been a big user of wood. The barriers to using more wood products appear to be rooted in unfamiliarity and outdated perceptions about performance of fire-rated and engineered wood assemblies. Overcoming these barriers to expansion of wood products can be done through educating consumers and producers, technology transfer, demonstrating successful projects, and through the creativity of architects and design professionals who incorporate wood into their projects.
When building, it is important, ASK FOR WOOD!
Frequently Asked Questions
Building codes are sets of regulations governing the design, construction, alteration and maintenance of structures. They specify the minimum requirements to adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of building occupants.
CLT or Cross Laminated Timber is an engineered wood panel typically consisting of three, five, or seven layers of dimension lumber oriented at right angles to one another and then glued to form structural panels with exceptional strength, dimensional stability, and rigidity.
Building codes change over time. The ability to use wood in some building types and sizes has increased in the last 10 years, allowing for more wood use. Wood products themselves are evolving and new products are on the market to use that were not available for use five years ago.
