Remember when the word "awesome" was meant to describe something that, well, inspired awe? Today it has devolved into an everyday expression often meaning not much more than "OK". Mom: "Want mac & cheese for lunch?" Kid: "That'd be awesome."
The more a word is used the less power it coveys. This applies to business jargon especially. Speakers who use "outside the box", "paradigm shift" and "disintermediate" can be sure they will not be confused with communicators of fresh ideas.
Which brings us to today's hottest, most overused, business buzzword: "Green". When used to describe a product or service that is sustainable, or in some way possesses a lower carbon footprint than a competing version, a green label helps a consumer make an informed, conscientious buying decision.
Sort of.
With over 300 "eco-labels" and certification programs available to manufacturers today, Kermit the Frog could now be singing, "It's Easy Being Green." Retailers and consumers are growing agitated with the recent proliferation of green labeling, lamenting the confusion it is causing among buyers and sellers alike. In future posts I will offer examples of what to look for when assessing products that call themselves green, and how to use "life cycle analysis" to measure a product's true sustainability.
How simple it would be if there was only one true green label for every product. Buying decisions would be easy and we'd all feel confident about our purchases. I think that would be awesome.
Composite decking is getting a lot of publicity lately, but it still makes up less than 25% of decking sold. For those traditionalists, for whom wood is the only proper decking choice, there are many types and species from which they can choose. Let's look at the pros and cons of each:
Cedar and redwood
Pros:
Made from a renewable resource, they are light weight, easy to work, naturally resistant to rot, decay and insects and have a tight-grained, naturally attractive appearance.
Cons:
Due to the tannic acids in cedar, stainless steel fasteners are recommended. Both should be stained or sealed at least every two years if you don't want the surface to go gray. They can be difficult to find in some parts of the country and cost considerably more than pressure treated. Depending on the sapwood/heartwood ratio the decking may need replacement in as little as 10 years.
More info:
http://www.wrcla.org/ ;
http://www.calredwood.org/
Tropical hardwoods (Ipe, Mahogany, others)
Pros:
Ipe is a clear winner, aesthetically. Very tight grain and few, any knots. Extremely durable.
Cons:
Very hard to work; predrilling required to fasten. 4-6X or more the cost of pressure treated lumber. The many varieties of mahogany require very careful shopping, as the attributes and drawbacks vary widely depending on the exact species.
More info:
http://www.aljoma.com/products/hardwoods/index.htm
Pressure treated lumber
Pros:
At less than half the cost of cedar or redwood, and a fraction of the cost of tropical hardwoods, it's far and away the economical choice. With the newest micronized copper treatments, such as ProWood Micro CA, a lifetime limited warranty comes with a bonus of a lighter, fresher appearance and a compatibility with fasteners that rivals untreated wood. Available in various color tints. Widely obtainable.
Cons: Although it will be perfectly serviceable for decades you may not like how it looks after a few years if you don't seal it at least every other year.
More info:
http://www.ufpi.com/product/pwmicro/index.htm
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.
There has been more discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of various types of pressure treated lumber over the last year than the last 50. Most of the debate has centered around Micronized Copper Quaternary, or MCQ. Introduced in 2006, the MCQ formulation now makes
up the majority of the pressure treated wood sold in the US. Unlike ACQ, a competing formula, it does not color the wood green, is much less corrosive to fasteners and can be used in direct contact with aluminum. For those reasons, and because it costs about the same as other common formulations, MCQ has become the preferred wood preservative among contractors and do-it-yourself'ers alike. Plus, 6 years of field testing, building code acceptance (ICC - ES), affirmative scientific performance reviews (Forest Products Journal, Nov 2008) and a lifetime limited warranty combine to provide peace of mind to its users.
Viance LLC, the only major treated wood chemical producer that does not have the MCQ technology, has gone to great lengths over the past year to discredit MCQ. Osmose, Inc, the largest producer of MCQ, recently sued Viance in US District Court and won a temporary restraining order, preventing Viance from continuing their "...baseless media campaign, which has negatively impacted the credibility of the entire treated wood industry.", according to Paul Goydan, president of Osmose. For the full text go here:
http://www.treatedwoodtruth.com/The debate will continue, and in this space I will provide updates as they occur and further illumination on the issues.
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