Wood is used at every stage of construction, from framing to interior finishes. The National Resources Defense Council estimates that 20 percent of the wood used in building a new home can be saved by framing more efficiently. By re-thinking home design and material usage, builders can prevent a lot of the wood waste that occurs on jobsites and make better use of the dimensional lumber that is needed. Wood-efficient building practices save builders time and money, help preserve forests, and can be incorporated throughout a new home project.
Home design
Use of wood-efficient building practices begins in the design phase of a home. Size the home appropriately for its function, and design floor plans to maximize usable area. Extra-large rooms, double-story ceilings, and formal-use only spaces often result in wasted square footage and may not be practical for your target homebuyers.
Design durability into each home with construction details that increase the life of wood and wood-based materials. This saves the homeowner in repair and replacement costs and reduces the demand for new wood. The following water-control measures can increase the longevity of wood-framed homes: roof overhangs; properly installed flashing; gaps between deck boards and between ledgers and walls; and ventilation. In addition, protect band boards, underlying sheathing, and large beams and columns from the weather and thus premature decay.
Material selection and construction practices
Two areas of residential building where lumber use can be drastically reduced are in the materials and construction practices used for framing. In many cases, non-traditional products and methods are superior to conventional practices in terms of ease-of-use, structural integrity, and durability.
Component systems and stressed-skin insulating-core panels both can be used in place of dimensional lumber. Component systems, which are prefabricated trusses and flat panels, are used to frame roofs, floors, and walls. The components arrive on site, engineered for structural integrity and ready to use. They are lighter weight and have more consistent quality than dimensional lumber, and using them in place of stick framing can save more than $3,000 per home in materials and labor. Similarly, stressed-skin panels are a prefabricated option that can be used to build walls, floors, and roofs. They’re made of rigid insulation sandwiched between skins of structural sheathing. Using these panels can reduce building envelope construction time by more than 1/3, improving the homebuilder’s productivity and profitability.
A third product choice that supports wood-efficient building practices is lumber that’s certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Environmentally certified wood can be substituted directly for standard dimensional lumber in nearly all residential construction, and it’s typically of comparable or better quality. To search for producers of certified forest products worldwide, try the certified product search at www.certifiedwoodsearch.org.
Finally, optimum value engineering (OVE) is a collection of framing methods that can be used to reduce the amount of dimensional lumber used for framing by placing framing members only where they’re structurally needed. Some examples of OVE practices are: spacing studs 24” o.c.; aligning first and second-story vertical framing members while using a single top plate; designing headers for individual loading conditions; aligning door and window openings with stud spacing; and eliminating structurally unnecessary framing at intersections. Various studies have shown that OVE framing techniques can save hundreds, even thousands, of dollars in lumber costs per home.
Waste minimization and disposal
Minimizing wood waste and disposing of it properly are wood-efficient building practices. From the outset of home construction, plan to minimize waste. Estimate carefully the wood and wood products needed and use all materials to their fullest potential. Also, use materials that can be separated during deconstruction; for example, use screws and bolts instead of nails and glue where possible.
Dispose of jobsite waste in an environmentally friendly manner. Instead of sending all construction waste to a landfill, sort materials for reuse, recycling, donation, and deconstruction. Currently, wood waste is the largest contributor of jobsite waste. Reducing it can save builders between $300 and $800 per home.
For more information about wood-efficient building practices, the Natural Resources Defense Council provides a handbook. Additional Best Practices® for quality framing of floors, walls and roofs can be found in BuildIQ University’s Framing Suite of online training courses.
