Engineered Lumber
Framing can account for up to 70%
of the 11,000 board feet of lumber
used in the average home, so framing
is where builders can do the most to
reduce their environmental impact.
And that's just what's been happening.
With fewer acres of old-growth
trees available for harvest, there's been
a movement in the trenches towards
alternative framing systems, including
foam-core panels, steel studs, and various
engineered lumber products. For
the most part, these products have
been well-received; the reason is that
they're usually of higher quality than
the twisted framing lumber that's been
showing up on many job sites lately.
One of the most common engineered
products is OSB (oriented
strandboard), which is used both for
sheathing and