[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: Lauan wood
Tim Vireo Keating
t.keating at rainforestrelief.org
Tue Jan 30 18:16:33 CST 2007
The history of 'lauan' is incredible. Here's my understanding:
The trees called lauan (red lauan and white
lauan) are native to the Philippines. In the
early part of last century, the Japanese were in
the Philippines, logging away. At that time, the
only way to make plywood was to select the
largest trees available and to slice the log
laterally, making as large a piece of thin veneer
sheet as one could. Then one would cut that sheet
to size, often joining it with another sheet, and
glue it (at a 90° angle), with other sheets, to
whatever thickness one desired.
Around the 1930s (as I understand) the
Japanese-run mills in the Philippines instituted
a new technology to create veneer sheets, which
appears to have been innovated in the Northwest
US: rotary cutting. In this method, trees are
placed on their sides and "peeled" with a very
long blade, as the tree turns (like a roll of
paper towels), a continuous sheet of veneer is
cut away. This can be cut to any length. Much of
the wood exports of the Philippines were, at that
time, going to Japan.
This new technology allowed for the use of many
smaller trees in the forests. Unfortunately for
the forests of the Philippines, this included
about 80% of the trees, which are all in the
family Dipterocarpacea. So, while suddenly just
about any tree in the forest was able to be
utilized for plywood, the name "lauan" had become
synonymous with cheap tropical plywood. This term
eventually became generic.
After WWII, Japan was suddenly no longer the main
market for wood products from the Philippines.
With the GI bill and returning soldiers, the US
suddenly became a huge market for housing. At the
same time, of course, Japan was in a slump. So
much of the plywood resulting from forest cutting
was going to the US. Since 1950, virtually all
the interior doors in every US home were faced
with lauan plywood. As well, companies used this
"lauan" for the backing (and often the face) of
paneling, which a bit later (1970s) became
extremely popular. I, myself, grew up in a house
where the basement was paneled with lauan
paneling.
Around that time, the US Forest Service, seeking
to increase the popularity of Philippine forest
products, suggested that the Philippines call
lauan "Philippine mahogany" (there is a certain
similarity in the grain but no relation to the
mahogany families, Swietenia or Khaya). The name
stuck and often we see lauan called "mahogany" to
this day.
By the late 1980s, it was apparent that the
Philippines was being logged out. Illegal logging
was a great problem. In 1989, massive flooding
and droughts, tied to overlogging, caused the
Prince to declare a logging moratorium. By then,
the Philippines was a net wood importer. Also, by
then, Malaysia had eclipsed the Philippines as
the largest exporter of tropical plywood. This
position would not last long, however, as
Indonesia stepped up plywood production around
1990. By 1991, Indonesia was the largest exporter
of tropical plywood and was soon responsible for
about 80% of the trade (as well, by the way, of
90% of the trade in dowels, made entirely of
ramin, an endangered species that occurs only in
the 'swamp' rainforests of Indo).
Plywood in Malaysia is called "meranti", after
the meranti tree, originally targeted there much
the same as the lauan trees, in the Philippines.
In the US, though, once this plywood is imported,
it's still usually called "lauan", based on the
ages-old generic term. As well, all plywood from
Indonesia, even though it has no relation to
lauan trees, is called "lauan".
This plywood is still used for set construction,
interior door skins, RV interiors and panelling,
cabinet drawer bottoms, furniture backing,
subflooring, folding doors, craft items, cigar
boxes and dozens of other products.
At this time, Indonesia's forests are estimated
to have been logged out by 2010.
Conversations with Philippine environmentalists
have revealed that 80% of the destruction of the
forests of the Philippines (which Greenpeace now
estimates to be 97% of the original forest cover)
has been due to the demand for lauan plywood.
I would venture a guess that 80% of the
destruction of Malaysian Borneo as well as
Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) has been due to
the production of plywood, much of it for the
Japanese and US markets.
Rainforest Relief is currently working to
transform the set-building industry, getting them
away from the use of lauan towards more
environmentally friendly alternatives. Hollywood
studios, petitioned and protested in 1991 by
Rainforest Action Network and others, vowed to
end their use of lauan, then at the level of
100,000 sheets/year. Within two years, studios
were back to using lauan. Currently, Hollywood's
consumption of lauan is estimated to be 500,000
sheets/year. Rainforest Relief has been working
for 4 years to get producers, directors and set
builders to avoid the use of lauan in set
construction. We call this campaign "Safe Sets:.
We are right now on the verge (within the next
two months) of importing a substitute plywood
product that we think may meet the stringent
requirements of set builders, including price. We
are working with numerous directors and
organizations and hope to be able to phase in
this substitute plywood product within the year.
If this product meets the stringent requirements
of set builders, it will surely meet the
requirements of RV manufacturers, flooring
installers and many others. We are very hopeful
about the potential of this
more-environmentally-sound product.
Georgia-Pacific, once the largest importer of
tropical plywood into the US, seems to have
phased out the use of this material in favor of a
type of fiberboard backing for paneling.
Unfortunately, a number of other companies,
including one called American Pacific, have
picked up the slack and are manufacturing
paneling backed with lauan.
Recently, we have seen plywood coming into the US
from Brazil. The grain of this plywood, we're
guessing logged from rainforests, is a bit
'stringier' looking and is simply called "lauan".
I can tell it apart but most folks wouldn't think
about it. My guess is that about 5% of US
tropical plywood imports are currently from
Brazil.
Even more recently, there's a scarier trend:
plywood production is shifting to Africa. Okoume,
a wood logged from the forests of Gabon, has
become very popular as a facing of plywood not
only straight from Africa but also from China. As
well, The Home Depot and Lowe's have shifted from
"lauan" doorskins to doorskins made from
hardboard, but faced with a veneer layer of
okoume. This product is FSC certified. We are in
the midst of following up on this certification,
since products certified by the FSC are
supposedly not allowed to contain content from
forest operations where endangered forests are
being destroyed. There's no question that *all*
the forests of Gabon are endangered forests (or
"high conservation value forests", as some term
them).
We also see many factories in China using
keruing, coming from forests in Indo and
Malaysia, as a plywood facing.
As well, all new shipping containers - those big
containers that go from ship to truck - are now
being floored with marine-grade plywood, made
from okoume. They were formerly floored with ekki
planking (made from an old-growth rainforest wood
from Africa) but the manufacturers (mostly based
in China and Korea) have shifted to thick marine
plywood. These are scary trends, as the forests
of Southeast Asia are eradicated, companies are
shifting to plywood from Africa.
Civilization continues to consume forests for
plywood, shifting from one country to the next,
as each is depleted in turn.
"Lauan" - and all tropical plywood - should be
avoided at all costs, given that it's production
has been responsible for 80% of the destruction
of rainforests in countries throughout Southeast
Asia.
For alternatives to lauan, see
http://www.rainforestrelief.org/What_to_Avoid_and_Alternatives/Rainforest_Wood/What_to_Avoid_What_to_Choose/By_Tree_Species/Tropical_Woods/L/Lauan_.html
Hopefully, we'll have another alternative in the
US shortly that will be as cost-effective as laun
and do much the same.
For the forests,
tim vireo keating
Philippines became a US
At 8:30 AM -0600 1/29/07, Lawrence Lile wrote:
>I have always wondered what a lauan was. I take it this is not a very
>desireable thing to be logging? Or is it no worse than any other
>nonsustainable lumber?
>
>
>
>Lawrence Lile, P.E., LEED AP
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
>[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Tim Vireo
>Keating
>Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 8:45 PM
>To: Greg Reitz; GreenBuilding at listserv.REPP.org
>Subject: [BULK] Re: [Greenbuilding] Green Trailer
>Importance: Low
>
>In general, we've found that there's a lot of lauan plywood (logged
>from rainforests) used in trailers.
>
>tim keating
>
>
>At 10:19 AM -0800 1/24/07, Greg Reitz wrote:
>>Anyone know if there is such a thing as a green (energy efficient/
>>healthy)construction trailer or portable/ temporary office?
>>
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Greg Reitz
>>Green Building Advisor
>>City of Santa Monica
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>
>--
>
>
>"The Earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the
>measure of our bodies are the same..."
> - Hinmaton Yalatkit, Nez Perce
>chief
>____________________________________________
>
>R A I N F O R E S T R E L I E F
>
>Sparing the World's Rainforests from Consumption
>
>Rainforest Relief works to protect the world's remaining tropical
>and temperate rainforests by reducing the demand for the products
>and materials of rainforest destruction such as timber and paper,
>industrial agricultural products such as bananas, beef, coffee,
>chocolate and cut flowers, and mining products
>such as oil, gold and aluminum.
>
>New York, NY: phone: (917) 543-4064
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>List email: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
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> publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec(r)
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--
"The Earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the
measure of our bodies are the same..."
- Hinmaton Yalatkit, Nez Perce chief
____________________________________________
R A I N F O R E S T R E L I E F
Sparing the World's Rainforests from Consumption
Rainforest Relief works to protect the world's remaining tropical
and temperate rainforests by reducing the demand for the products
and materials of rainforest destruction such as timber and paper,
industrial agricultural products such as bananas, beef, coffee,
chocolate and cut flowers, and mining products
such as oil, gold and aluminum.
New York, NY: phone: (917) 543-4064
Portland, OR: (503) 236-3031
http://www.rainforestrelief.org
info at rainforestrelief.org
122 W. 27th Street * New York, NY 10001 USA
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