American Softwoods

American Softwoods

The most environmentally responsible material available today...

Wood is a renewable multi-purpose resource and being naturally sustainable, recyclable and biodegradable is the most environmentally responsible building material available today.

Trees cover about a third of the entire United States and are more plentiful now than they were 75 years ago. In addition, over four million trees are planted every day in America and more are grown each year than are harvested or lost to disease, insects and fire.

Strict regulations

Timber harvesting in forested areas is governed by strict county, state and federal environmental and land management laws.

Some 'timber basket' states are governed by extremely tough State Forest Practices Acts and Best Management Practices. This means they have the highest compliance levels of any timber-growing region on the planet.

In addition...

Ores and petroleum used to make non-wood products are not renewable - once used they are gone forever.

It takes far less energy to transform trees into wood products, helping to conserve finite fossil fuels and coal, and causing less pollution of air and water.

In order to prevent rot and insect damage, wood must be properly treated with a suitable preservative.

The level of preservative needed is determined by the end use of the wood. For example, timber used for decking around a swimming pool requires a different level of treatment to timber used for floor joists.

To make it easier to select timber with the correct level of treatment, timber is categorised into four Use Classes dependent upon its end application.

Please click here for more detailed information about sustainability and the environment.