Carpentry is a form of art that can bring you close to nature. Working in carpentry allows you to get to know the wood and construction material that you’re working with real close. If you’re working with wood in any capacity, sustainability is one of the most important things you should have in mind at the beginning. Wood is a material that can be regrown and replenished, but not without end. We can only use wood to our advantage if the commercial construction products we use are sustainable and actually giving back to the environment in the ways it should.
Carpentry and Sustainable Commercial Construction Materials
Carpenters and construction artists, pay attention. Here’s how to make sure you are using the most sustainable commercial construction materials for your work. We will also give you tips on what steps to take if you aren’t.
What Is Your Carbon-Tree Footprint?
If you work in carpentry or construction, the first thing you should do is assess your business to find out your carbon-tree footprint - pun intended.
What materials are you using the most right now, and where are your suppliers getting them?
Every supplier must be able to answer this question, or the material you have been buying isn’t as sustainable as they claim. Illegal wood harvesting is second only to human trafficking on the black market and is a huge business.
Why Be Sustainable?
Using sustainable wood helps to ensure the future longevity of the materials you use. Want to keep working with wood? Put back into the environment when possible.
Buying sustainable wood also cuts out the illegal logging industry. Buying illegal wood is something that no responsible carpenter wants to knowingly contribute to.
Sustainable and responsibly sourced commercial construction materials also can stand to be cheaper. If you find out that your regular supplier hasn’t been supplying you with sustainable products, it’s time to seek out other suppliers. There is even a chance that they might supply you with a better deal!
Source Materials Responsibly
Has this material been responsibly sourced? This is a question that’s as important for wood as it is for items such as clothes or coffee. As a carpenter or construction business owner, this is the first question you should ask your wood supplier.
Suppliers that can prove the site of origin are typically responsibly sourcing the materials. Any wood that cannot be traced to its site of origin should be thought about twice.
If you have a love for rare types of wood or if a specific project requires its use, source only from the most reputable material suppliers.
Buying Recycled Products
Wood is a resource that can be almost endlessly put back into the cycle once it has been used up. Recycled wood products are out there, and can make viable alternatives for sustainable construction projects.
The first advantage to buying recycled products is cost. You will almost always pay less without any compromise on the quality of your next project. The second advantage is that recycled products are guaranteed to be sustainable.
Sure, recycled products are not always suitable. However, when they are, they can save you money and save the environment in the process.
Cutting Down on Waste
Cutting down on waste is one more way to be environmentally sustainable in the carpentry and construction industry. Most carpenters end up with unused wood or off-cuts after a big project. There are always ways to put this back into use or save these odd bits for other projects.
For the smart carpenter, it’s important that nothing going through the workshop ever goes to waste. In fact, a savvy carpenter can even put sawdust to use.
Do You Recycle?
A properly run sustainable carpentry business isn’t just about the sustainability of the building materials you use. In fact, it is also about how you recycle what comes out.
Almost every business has an output that could contribute to their waste problem. If you don’t recycle what you can, you are contributing to a lack of environmental sustainability.
Always recycle if you are in the position to do it! From waste paper to pulp, you can guarantee that nothing in your business ever becomes a waste.
Sustainable Carpentry
It’s just as easy to run a sustainable carpentry business (using sustainable materials) as it is to run one that doesn’t.
In today's world, sourcing sustainable commercial construction materials and simple recycling can put you so far above companies that don’t.
Contour Construction | Commercial Carpentry in Omaha
Contour can complete large and small carpentry jobs for:
- Multi‐Family Residential
- Commercial
- Educational
- Small scale tenant improvement and build-out projects
- Senior Living Facilities
- Churches
- Schools
Contact Contour Construction to outline performance in carpentry on your next project. Click to check out our services, projects, or contact us today.
