At home with Douglas-fir

Building with wood means you’re making a worthwhile contribution to improving the overall environmental performance of the building - by reducing the use of energy and resource greedy materials and processes, and reducing environmental impacts in ways like helping to redress global climate change.

Wood manufacture produces less air and water pollution than the production of many other building materials. Wood also uses the least energy in its production of any of the most common building materials and tends not to create the same pollution factors. Research from Canada has shown that using wood compared to steel or concrete promises lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower air pollution, lower water pollution and lower levels of solid waste by-products.

Wood is popular with architects and builders because of its flexibility, strength and inherent characteristics. It offers proven construction benefits along with warm, natural beauty. Wood can offer long span capacity, the appeal of exposed beams, more aesthetic flooring options and so much more...

Not only that, but wooden homes tend to be much more energy efficient. Wood has a naturally good insulating value compared to other materials.

Clever design means that your home can be chemical-free using wood. There are places where you can confidently use untreated Douglas-fir for your home and building solutions that eliminate or minimise the requirement for treated timber. Where the Building Code does require treatment, Douglas-fir treated with Boron, a naturally occurring earth element, can often satisfy Code requirements. Douglas-fir does not give off the chemical vapours that might contribute to allergies.

Wood lasts. There are temples in Japan and buildings around Europe still standing after a thousand years! Historic wooden buildings around the world, many dating back to the 16th century or beyond.