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Timber

January ’13

Advantages of timber

Constructing with FSCForest Stewardship Council (who accredit timber) timber (or another accreditation organisation such as PEFCProgramme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. See their web site) is potentially one of the greenest ways of building for several reasons.

Timber itself captures and locks up CO² as it grows and keeps [...]

Designing with timber

timber house in the Field of Dreams, Findhorn FoundationThe Findhorn Foundation is a large community near Inverness. There is a strong emphasis on sustainable building and living.

See some of the wealth of interesting UK timber designs here.

advantages and drawbacks

Timber can provide some of the greenest solutions to house building for several [...]

MDF

Part composted MDFMedium Density Fibreboard ready to be spread on farm land

stability, workability and low embodied energythe total amount of energy it takes to make a material (or a building). See more on embodied energy

Made from wood fibre which is heavily compressed (in spite of it being called Medium Density [...]

OSB

Oriented strand board is an excellent alternative to plywood provided it is woodmarked and sourced as locally as possible

Greenpeace have recently come out with a report about how unsustainable much of the plywood is that is imported into the UK, and how OSBOriented Strand Board is an excellent alternative. Below is an extract showing where [...]