Is hardwood timber flooring eco-friendly?
Hardwood timber flooring can be eco-friendly, particularly when sourced sustainably. Key factors include certification by organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which ensure responsible forest management. Local sourcing reduces transportation emissions and supports local economies. Hardwood floors are durable and can last for decades, minimising the need for frequent replacement. Additionally, they can be reclaimed, refinished, and repurposed, further extending their lifecycle and conserving resources.
Hardwood Timber Floors and Climate Change.
When you choose timber, you are not only picking a majestic and unique floor made from a renewable resource, you’re actually helping in the battle against climate change.
You’re Moonwalking On Carbon
Your timber floors are really storing carbon. Up to half the dry weight of wood is carbon that’s been soaked up from the environment by trees as they went through the various stages of growth. Decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment is just one of the most vital points we can do to reduce the damage related to climate change.
It All Begins in the Forests
Forests as well as timber products have a positive effect on the procedure of climate change in several ways. Expanding trees soak up carbon dioxide from the atmospheric environment and lockup the carbon extremely efficiently. This carbon remains stored in the timber for ever – even when we utilise it for building items like timber flooring and wooden furniture.
Using timber rather than other products offers you other environmental benefits as well. The manufacture of wood products uses less energy (power normally sourced from finite non-renewable fuel sources), compared with lots of other materials used in construction.
Timber and the Greenhouse effect
The term “greenhouse effect”; refers to the way infrared radiation from the planet is warming up the environment. If you have actually ever strolled right into an actual greenhouse, and even on a cold sunny day, you’ll recognize it feels a great deal warmer inside. This is where the name originated.
Solar radiation gets to the Earth through the atmosphere and warms the earth’s surface. This energy is then sent back into our solar system as infrared radiation. Nonetheless, as this has a different wavelength to the inbound radiation, much less of it can pass through the barrier of certain atmospheric gases known as greenhouse gases. The most vital greenhouse gas is co2 (CO2) yet others include water vapour (H20), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide or laughing gas (N2O), chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Ever since the beginning of industrialisation, there has been a sharp rise in greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, generally as a result of CARBON DIOXIDE, from the burning of non-renewable fuel sources or fossil fuels, but also from the enormous changes in land use. Scientists and researchers agree that CO2 levels in the environment have boosted by 30 % since the 1950’s.
Our resource is sustainably managed
Australia’s enjoys sustainable forestry management, and our industry are world leaders in regards to preservation reserves and also codes of practice for timber production forests. Just 6 % of Australia’s 147 million hectares of native forests is public forest potentially readily available for harvesting of timber. Hardwood timber is harvested from about 1 % of these public native forests each year.
The Australian Timber sector is a greenhouse friendly industry
Australian forestry is just one of the most greenhouse friendly industries in our economy. In 2005 (the last year for which we have numbers) it was the only industry market to be carbon positive. That means that as a market, forestry in Australia soaked up much more carbon than it created. For floor covering as well as an entire variety of different usages, timber is the beautiful, sustainable as well as environmentally friendly selection. So now you see why the natural choice for your floor is timber!
