Advantages of timber

The Environmental Advantages of Timber

Within today's day and age there are few materials that can be used for the purpose of construction and still remain sustainable. Like oil, metals we commonly use for building purposes extracted from 'terra firma' cannot be replaced once all resources are consumed. Therefore metallic based materials can know longer be implemented in place of rival sustainable products.
Timber being one of the world's rare sustainable building materials, as they reproduce when harvested. Due to timber's sustainability, through adequate management and conservation as a whole, we can ensure timber's longevity and continual purpose as an adequate building material. This objective is contained through the continual process of planting forests and plantations on a sustainable level. When comparing timber to other substitute building materials which are generally non-renewable.
During the harvesting of timber carbon atoms are stored within the tree even whilst being manufactured into timber products. If the trees being harvested are left to perish and rot as unwanted waste, the carbon within the timber transforms into carbon dioxide which is released back into the atmosphere as a harmful Green House Gas.

Hardwood -Hardwood trees are generally broadleaved trees.   These tree species are deciduous, retaining their leaves only one growing season.   The designation Hardwood trees does not necessarily relate to the hardness of the wood.. Hardwood trees are also called broad leaf trees or deciduous trees. Typical hardwood trees include ash, elms, oak, maple, walnut, hickory, mahogany, and walnut. Woods grown in tropical climates are generally hardwoods.   Hardwoods have shorter fibers compared to softwood. Some hardwoods are evergreen.

Softwoods- Softwoods are one of the botanical groups of trees that have persistent needle-like or scale-like leaves; softwoods are evergreen and have longer-length fibers than hardwoods. Softwood trees include pines, spruces, firs, cedars.

Strength of Wood- Green wood has high moisture content (generally) and this results in reduced strength.As it is dried it loses the moisture content and becomes stronger.

Wood may be described as an orthotropic material; that is, it has unique and independent mechanical properties in the directions of three mutually perpendicular axes: longitudinal, radial, and tangential.   The longitudinal axis is assumed parallel to the fiber (grain); the radial axis is normal to the growth rings (perpendicular to the grain in the radial direction); and the tangential axis is perpendicular to the grain but tangent to the growth rings.  (Think of the grain as the tree rings running up the trunk /branch - planks of wood are simply sections of the tree trunk (or branch)

Sapwood and Heartwood

The structure of a tree stem can be broadly divided into two main zones. When viewing the end-section of a log or cross-section of a tree stem, the central wood zone, is usually considerably darker than the portion adjacent to the bark. Generally, the light coloured wood is the sapwood remainder.