[Greenbuilding] Plybooboo

[Andrew Pace, CSI]

I believe Dovetail did some research a while back which concluded that
farmers in China are cutting down acreage of trees to make room for bamboo.
This doesn't sound like the US raping a nation to me.  More so, it appears
as though the Chinese have figured out capitalism.

Your lumber harvesting example seems quite eco-friendly, unless you were a
card-carrying PETA member.  I'm not trying to antagonize, but merely to make
a point that everyone can look at a product (or its source) from a different
angle and come up with a different conclusion.  As a material supplier, it's
my job to guide people in the right direction, based upon the criteria the
customer gives us.  We give our educated opinion only when asked.

Believe me, the only thing I like more than educating my clients is playing
devil's advocate.  That's why I say that there really is no perfect green
product...just plenty of shades.


Andrew J. Pace, CSI
Principal

Safe Building Solutions
"The Nations Premier Supplier
of Healthy and Sustainable Building Materials"

W292 S4498 Hillside Rd.
Waukesha, WI 53189
Phone: (262) 968-5070
Fax:  (262) 968-5079

www.safebuildingsolutions.com






On 2/7/07 4:02 PM, "Rob Tom" <ArchiLogic at yahoo.ca> wrote:

> Something that emerges out of this thread as to whether or not plyboo is
> Green or not is why there is even the need for Murricans to import lumber
> flooring all the way from China or elsewhere to supply their flooring
> needs, Green or otherwise.
> 
> Has the US so extensively raped it wealth of resources that it, like Japan
> needs to pillage the resources of poorer, overseas developing nations to
> satisfy its consumption habits ?
> 
> One of the first "Rules of Thumb" of building sustainably is that the
> materials for the building should come from within a 300 km radius of the
> building site.
> 
> If the locale doesn't have any trees or salvageable lumber within that
> radius, then perhaps consideration should be given to a non-lumber
> flooring choice that is locally sourced ?
> 
> I also think that a big part of the problem is trying to order "Green"
> products by simply pulling them out of a catalogue or such-like.
> 
> I think that a good rule of thumb is that the further one is removed from
> the source, the less Green it's going to be. By "source" in this case I
> mean the sawyer and the trees.
> 
> For instance, the last time I bought a whack of lumber (red oak), it was
>  from a sawyer who hitches up two of his draught horses to go into his
> woods to haul out the saw logs cut from trees that he felt were suitable
> for harvesting. The logs were band-sawn on his property and then stickered
> to dry in his sheds for a few years before selling. A nice shade of Green
> I'd say.
> 
> 
> === * ===
> Rob Tom
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
> <A r c h i L o g i c   at  c h a f f y a h o o   dot   c a >
> winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply
> 
> 
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