Growing Forests Produce Oxygen; Store Carbon

Thanks to photosynthesis, healthy forests are net producers of oxygen. Growing trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and separate the carbon and oxygen atoms. Trees then return oxygen to the air and use the carbon to grow roots, trunk, branches and leaves. This process reduces greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

To grow a pound of wood, a tree uses 1.47 pounds of carbon dioxide and gives off 1.07 pounds of oxygen. Consequently, an acre of trees can remove about 13 tons of dust and gases from the atmosphere.

Once a tree stops growing and begins to decay, the process reverses. For every pound of wood that decays, the tree uses 1.07 pounds of oxygen and releases 1.47 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.

Growing forests also pump water up from the soil and back into the air through transpiration. A tree that's 100 feet tall with 200,000 leaves will take 11,000 gallons of water from the soil and transpire it into the air in a single growing season.

This process not only cools the environment, but also plays a vital role in collecting and releasing water into natural channels and courses.

Sustainable Manufacturing

Once trees are harvested and taken to the sawmill for primary processing, advanced manufacturing technology assures the least wood waste and greatest yield of lumber. As with the secondary manufacturing facilities where finished goods are made, all wood processing by-products have a use:

Tree bark is processed into mulch and soil conditioners.
Sawdust fuels the boilers that operate dry kilns or is sold for animal bedding.
Trimmings are chipped and processed into paper, among other products.
Small pieces are recovered and processed or finger-jointed into wood components or other products.

The next green steps are taken by architects, designers or specifiers who practice sustainable design and building.