Wood trusses are structures made of timber and used in construction projects; this paper seeks to outline the environmental advantages of using this type of trusses in construction.
Currently, the aspects of sustainability and environmental friendliness occupy a significant topic in the construction industry. With the increasing concern of global warming and owners and builders wanting to minimize their impacts to the environment the use of wood trusses in construction has become popular.Â
Wood trusses provide lots of advantages pertaining to the environment and this makes them the preferred solution for many constructions for residential, and commercial applications.
Here is how you can look at wood trusses specifically and see why in fact, it is a green building material.
Renewable Resource
This makes the use of wood trusses as an effective input towards the improvement in the environmental status in the following way. Wood does not depend on a specific natural resource as steel or concrete which are non-renewable resources.
Silvicultural systems help to replace and perpetuate the forests so that supply of timber is always available. This cycle to some extent assist on the reduction of deforestation and balancing of the environment.
Low Carbon Footprint
Wood trusses also have another main advantage, including relatively low levels of CO2 emissions during their production. Creation of steel and concrete highly consumes energy and results to emission of large amounts of CO2. On the other hand, the fabrication of wood trusses uses lesser energy, and thus has a smaller overall CO2 emission value.
Furthermore, trees during their growth remove from consumption CO2 and act as carbon thoroughbreds. Applying wood in construction stores this carbon for the time the structure is in use thus lowering the levels of greenhouse gases.
Energy Efficiency
Compared to the steel and concrete, the manufacturing of the wood trusses is comparatively cheaper in terms energy consumption. It is less energy intensive; the sawmills and the wood processing plants themselves use some biomass energy, uses are sawdust and wood chips etc.
All of the above combinations mitigate on the use of fossil based resources and bring down total energy usage. Also, wood is a great insulator thus improving the energy efficiency a building thus cutting on energy bills for heating or cooling.
Reduced Waste
Wood trusses are fabricated off-site at factories; this means that a lot of wastage is eliminated. Since cutting and other assembly methods are very accurate, there is little wastage that occurs during the various production phases.
What is more, the remaining wood can be either repurpose for other use, or recycled, which will minimize waste to the maximum. Nevertheless, conventional construction which takes place at the site has been associated with wastage of most of the building material that are taken to the dumpsites.
Biodegradability
Compared to steel and concrete, at the end of wood’s life, it is biodegradable and does not have the capability of lasting for several hundred years.
Laminated timber arches, in its turn, may be removed and reused or allowed to go through the process of biodegradation, thus, contributing to regenerating the ground. This leaves less environmental footprint of the building waste, and at the same time go in line with the circular economy principles.
Sustainable Construction Practices
Employment of wood trusses is an environmentally friendly way of carrying out construction. Fortunately, a great many wood trusses are constructed with the help of engineered woods such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and oriented strand board (OSB), the production of which does not require large trees.
Besides promoting efficiency in the utilisation of timber resources, it also helps to lessen the harvesting pressure on the ancient forests. Structural, fibreboards, plywood; laminates, new materials, and so on are engineered woods that give sturdiness and solidity to buildings where wood trusses are used hence long-lasting.
Conclusion
Introducing wood trusses in construction works has numerous advantages that are friendly to the environment. Recently wood products have been established to be a renewable resource that has a minimum impact on the carbon trace, augmenting energy efficiency and minimizing wastage, wood trusses are a sustainable product for today’s construction.
Therefore, by choosing wood trusses builders or homeowners help to construct better surroundings by being confident that they get the material that is strong, durable, and (let us not deny it) beautiful.
