Pressure treated lumber - basics and beyond

There are interesting new developments in the Osmose vs. Viance court battle. Viance, a maker of treated wood chemicals, has claimed publicly competitor Osmose’s wildly popular pressure treated lumber formulation MicroPro, which is used by Universal in its ProWood Micro brand, doesn’t work as advertised. Not sitting still for this, Osmose sued, and on March 24 a judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), forcing Viance to cease its attacks.

On September 29th, Osmose was granted a motion for preliminary injunction reaffirming that Viance must stop its negative marketing campaign against the MicroPro technology and micronized copper wood preservatives.  Viance tried hard to get the judge to lift the TRO and was denied with this ruling. By continuing the restraining order the judge has affirmed the court’s position that Viance must discontinue their attacks on MicroPro.

Both Osmose and Viance have sought injunctions against one other. They are almost mirrors of each another, both accusing the other of misleading statements and false advertising. The judge said “yes” to Osmose and “no” to Viance. Emphatically so, if you read the court order, available here: http://www.treatedwoodtruth.com/pdf/09-29-09-USDC-188-Order-on-Preliminary-Injunction-Osmose-vs-Viance.pdf

Of significance is the fact that Viance does not have any details of this latest ruling, with the exception of their own press release, on their Web site. The fact that the latest court order cannot be found there raises the question, "Why not?"

Various industry publications are lining up with Osmose on this issue. Their comments can be found here:

http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?referer=rss427&sectionID=427&articleID=1087411

And here:

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=tedsremodelingblog&postId=89675

Documents related to this case can be found on the treatedwoodtruth.com site, here: http://www.treatedwoodtruth.com/index.php
 

As the nation’s leading pressure treated lumber producer, we’re often contacted by fledgling companies seeking to gain a market foothold with a new wood preservative product or technology. Our staff of chemical engineers and wood technologists evaluates each new product opportunity with close scrutiny given to the efficacy, safety and value inherent in the new process or technology.

We manufacture for our customers only those products that pass our own very rigorous testing methods. Those products include the ProWood family of pressure treated lumber brands. Some products that don’t meet our high manufacturing and selling standards – whether for reasons of effectiveness, value or warranty concerns – end up in the general marketplace, regardless of our judgment. 

Occasionally we receive an inquiry from one of our customers to quote a job that requires a product we have previously tested and don’t necessarily recommend. As a loyal supplier to that customer we will supply the job, while specifically disclaiming any liability in the event of the failure of that product to perform. 

A recent example of this is our single-order agreement to sell a product called BluWood to one of our customers. BluWood is not a product we would recommend for its intended use but the specification in the building plan called for it. UFP will ship lumber to a BluWood facility for treatment and from there it will be shipped to UFP’s customer. Without our prior knowledge, EcoBlue, the company that makes BluWood, put out a press release announcing the order for this one job, while intimating an ongoing and growing relationship between our companies. This is not the case and we have asked EcoBlue to retract those statements that would lead the reader to infer that the two companies enjoy an ongoing partnership. We sold the product to our customer because it was specified and not because we advocated its use. Finally, there is no distribution agreement between EcoBlue and UFP, nor are there plans to create one.

Your mid-summer outdoor pursuits may find you wandering pressure treated docks, boardwalks and nature path bridges. The posts supporting these structures are often sunk in water. Speculation regarding exposing aquatic wildlife to the chemicals used to treat the wood has led in some cases to concerns about the use of pressure treated wood in these applications.

In a recently published article, Dr. Kenneth Brooks, of Aquatic Environmental Sciences, presented his conclusions regarding this concern after studying the environmental response to pressure treated lumber over the last 17 years. As Dr. Brooks states in the article, “In 14 of 15 risk assessments, no significant adverse affects to the environment were documented. In fact, invertebrate communities were more diverse and abundant near these (pressure treated lumber) structures than at nearby reference locations.”

The newest, most technologically advanced pressure treatment formula—such as that used in ProWood Micro CA—is micronized copper azole. According to testing performed by Scientific Certification Systems, this new formulation has achieved a 90-99% reduction in copper release in aquatic and terrestrial environments. In addition, the copper in ProWood Micro CA bonds readily to organic matter in the soil. The copper becomes biologically inactive, thus causing no ecological impacts.

Continuous improvement through better technology is helping pressure treated lumber become an even more sustainable product, with no decline in performance.

With the recession in full swing home gardening is making a comeback. Vegetable lovers with diminished means are finding that a little more green in the pocket is worth a bit of toil in the soil. A good choice for many backyard growers is a raised garden bed. The perfect building material for raised beds is pressure treated lumber. It’s economical, easy to work and safe to use in gardening applications. The new micronized copper formulations, including ProWood Micro CA, use a treatment process that has earned Environmentally Preferred Product status from Scientific Certification Systems. This new formulation also has a lighter, fresher appearance compared to other formulations and is less corrosive to fasteners.  

 
According to Becky Wern, Master Gardener with the Duvall County
Agricultural Extension Service and the University of Florida, today's pressure treated lumber "is safe to use around children and animals and for gardens with edibles."
 

Don’t burn or compost pressure treated wood. Once you’re finished building the bed, your pressure treated wood scraps and sawdust can be land-filled along with ordinary household trash.

When you think of sustainable building products what sort of products come to mind? Solar panels? Super-efficient insulation? Naturally. But when you consider the total life cycle analysis - the true measure of a product's greenness - you find wood measures up better than just about anything. An especially sustainable product choice for an exterior project is pressure treated lumber.
 
Treated lumber makes a positive environmental impact in many ways:
Less energy consumption - Using treated lumber products, instead of materials like plastic and steel, aids in the fight against global warming. When you compare the total energy costs of different kinds of building materials - including the costs to acquire the raw material, transport it, process it into useful product and then actually use it - wood far outshines its competition.
Save trees - Yes, You read that right. Because it can stay in service for decades, using pressure treated lumber extends the wood resource. In North America, the use of pressure treated wood saves millions of trees from harvest each year. Plus, the process of making steel and plastic involves extraction of non-renewable resources, while trees are renewable, sustainable and abundant.
Recyclable - Once taken out of service, pressure treaded wood can be reused as landscaping, garden edging, steps or many other popular projects.

What about the state of today's forests? Today the U.S. has 750 million acres of forestland. Forest inventory, the number of trees still standing after mortality and harvesting, increased by 49% between 1953 and 2006.

Every day more than 1.7 million trees are planted in the U.S. – 4 trees per person per year. There are 12 million more acres of forest in the U.S. today than there were 20 years ago.

Pressure treated lumber products are produced from plentiful, fast-growing trees from managed forests, not old-growth or rain forests. The process used to treat one brand, ProWood Micro CA, is the first to gain Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) status as certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). SCS is a third-party certification services and standards development company. EPA guidelines require that such products have reduced impacts on human health and the environment when compared to other products that serve the same purpose.

Advancements in technology are causing pressure treated lumber to be less green in hue and more green in application.