Barn Pros believes strongly in building with wood – it has many advantages over other products on the market. For example:
- Less energy is used to produce wood products, and the processing creates less air and water pollution than other common building products.
- Wood uses the sun’s energy to regenerate itself in a continuous sustainable cycle – and is the only major building material that is renewable.
- Because of these factors, wood has an ultra-low carbon footprint.
“The CO2 absorbed by growing forests and stored in wood products offsets the energy required to harvest, process, transport, and maintain these products over time – which is why their net emissions are below zero.” RTS Building Information Foundation; CEI-Bois
How does a wood-structure building qualify as a green building?
- Wood is a natural insulator. Wood keeps your building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter – operating costs such as heating are greatly reduced.
- Wood is a renewable material, and does not require as much energy – or produce as much pollution – in the manufacturing process.
Why should we be worried about CO2 emissions?
- CO2 emissions are the key component in the creation of "the greenhouse effect" and are the main cause of climate change.
- The term greenhouse effect refers to the way infrared radiation from the earth is trapped, heating up the atmosphere.
The are two ways to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere:
- By reducing emissions, or
- By removing CO2 and storing it; reducing ‘carbon sources’ and increasing carbon sinks.
Trees have the natural ability to capture CO2 in the air and combine it with the water they draw from the soil. In fact, forests function as huge carbon sinks, and sequester a significant percentage of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Combine that with the fact that wood requires less energy for processing, and you've got a very viable material for green building.
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