Use of wood increases in constructions and helps to save the planet

An article published by The New York Times has focused on the return of wood to American constructions, which have given preference to masonry for decades due to the history of fires in the country. Now, however, with all the technologies from the 21st century, the construction companies have once again defended the use of wood, which makes the building process faster and more environmentally friendly.

The use of wood in civilian construction is growing not only in the United States but throughout the world. At the same time, the popularity of Teak is increasing within this market due to its natural properties that makes it impermeable and resistant to the climatic variations. It is a durable, sturdy and versatile wood.

“Today’s wood is no longer what it used to be” the report says. Today it is possible to adapt the wood in order to meet all the necessary safety requirements in a construction. Techniques such as the mass timber, an industrialized product composed of layers of wood pressed together; and the CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber), a constructive technique with wood, are examples of it.

“The more we build using CLT the more carbon we can store, creating a market for wood that can drive reforestation”, says architect Anthony Thistleton. “Planting more trees is one of the only realistic ways to reduce CO2 levels and this will only happen in scale if demand driven. This is a critical time in the fight against irreversible climate change”.

The power of reforestation is to transform degraded and unusable soils into living forests, which is constantly renewing itself. Studies shows that a cubic meter of wood sequesters a ton of carbon dioxide and, when harvested and replanted sustainably, growing trees actively suck up CO2 from the atmosphere indirectly combating the greenhouse effect.

Thus, the increase in the use of timber from legal origin in civil constructions can in fact boost this sector that has so much impact in degraded areas restoration, in native forests preservation and in environmental conservation. In the long term, planted forests and the reduction of masonry use can help saving the planet!

TRC plays an important role in this scenario. Our teak forests come from reforestation, cultivated with sustainable management and marketed with certification to national and international markets. Get to know more about our work by clicking here.

Teak Resources Company