Benefits of Wood

Canfor promotes the environmental benefits of wood, and is a leader in finding new ways to build with wood and in the evolution of building codes to encourage the use of wood products.

We support the work of the Softwood Lumber Board, which expands markets by creating new opportunities for softwood lumber, including more non-residential and multi-family structures and mass timber buildings. Wood products are seen by individuals, companies and governments worldwide as the best building choice for the environment, and the Board’s programs build on this.

Wood is the only major building product that is natural, renewable, and stores carbon throughout its life cycle. Furthermore, the environmental benefits are strengthened when the wood comes from a company like Canfor that utilizes wood manufacturing technology and sustainable forest practices, backed by third-party forest certification.

In developed countries, buildings represent about 35% to 40% of the total national energy consumption and a similar percentage of total national carbon emissions. Greening our buildings is a critical element in the quest for sustainability and the fight against climate change.

Advances in wood science and building technology, adopted through modern building codes, allow wood to be used in an increasingly broad range of non-residential, multi-storey and longer-span buildings and applications. Canfor supplied wood for 18-storey Brock Commons, a student residence in Vancouver that will soon be the world’s tallest wood building. In addition to traditional wood and timber-frame construction and finishing applications, there’s a role for wood in every project.

Green building standards that scientifically analyze product impacts using life cycle assessment reward wood use for its dramatic benefits on improving green building performance.

Truly nature’s building material, wood is clearly the sustainable choice.