Wood: the ultimate green product

It’s renewable, sustainable, recyclable, local and much more

Wood is the ultimate “green” product — it’s renewable, sustainable, recyclable, grown locally, versatile, biodegradable and has a smaller energy, water and carbon life cycle footprint than other products. Increasingly, wood is being recognized in the architecture, engineering and construction communities as a green building product with important environmental advantages over other building materials.

Why are wood products so green?

• Wood is the only major building material derived from a resource that is both sustainable and renewable.
• Trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in wood. As a result, about half the dry weight of wood is carbon, which remains sequestered in wood products used to construct buildings, and helps offset carbon dioxide emissions – a major contributor to global warming.
• About 99 percent of each log processed winds up in a usable product, reducing waste to near zero.
• Wood requires less energy and water to produce than other construction materials.
• Idaho wood products are made from timber that’s harvested sustainably. State forest protection laws mandate prompt replanting after harvest and require landowners to protect wildlife habitat and water quality, ensuring sustainable forests in perpetuity.