Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 1
BackgroundtoTaxonomiesSetting the Stage
• Most of forest land in Canada owned by Provincial governments (not the global norm)
– exceptions include Irving (mostly NB and Maine) and Vancouver Island in BC
• All firms want to maximize return to log i.e. make products from the log that will generate the highest value products
wide lumber, panels
narrow lumber panels
chips
hog fuel (bark, sawdust, etc.)
High value
Low value
David Cohen 1
wide lumber,panels
narrow lumber,panels
chips
hog fuel (bark, sawdust, etc.)
Solid Wood Products
Pulp & Paper Products
Energy & composting material, some panels
Hierarchy of Values
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 2
Canada’sWoodSupply• Largest (diameter & height) in BC and Alberta ‐ larger closest to coastal BC
•Central & Eastern Canada has shorter, skinnier, more twisted trees
• Faster growing in southern regions
•More hardwood in Ontario & Quebec
Industry concentrating on lumber in Western Canada Industry concentrating on pulp & paper in Central & Atlantic Canada Larger sawmills in West; More pulp mills in Central & East Higher quality lumber in West
David Cohen 3
MostsolidwoodisusedinhousinginNA
• US house construction and repair & remolding consume majority of Canadian lumber and panels
• 30‐40% of lumber used in new house construction and 30‐40% in repair and remodeling
David Cohen 4
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 3
SolidWoodProducts
Basedon“ANewTaxonomyofWoodProducts”byDavidCohen&SimonEllis,1998;latestupdate2011.
AcknowledgingthecontributionofRobertKozakandBillWilsonintheinitial1996edition.
David Cohen 5
WOOD
Composites Solid Wood Pulp & Paper
WoodProductsTaxonomy
David Cohen 6
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 4
Wood Products Taxonomy
EngineeredWood
Products
I-Beams
Roof trusses
WOOD
Composites Solid Wood
PanelsEngineered
LumberComposites
(ELC)
Wood/Non-wood
WoodBased
Wood/Cement
Particleboard
MDF
Plywood
OSB
LVL
OSL
SoftwoodLumber
Glued TreatedHardwood
Lumber
Boards
Dimension
Timber
MSR
Finger joined
Edge glued
Glulam
CCA treated
Fire retardant
Hardwood
Solid Wood
SoftwoodLumber
HardwoodTreatedGlued
Boards
Dimension
Timber
MSR
David Cohen 8
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 5
SoftwoodBoards
What: 1” thick material, 2” width increments, 2’ length increment usually dried and planed smooth
Uses: as a non-structural, finished products to manufacture desks, shelving, furniture etc.
Where produced: NA & Europe Markets are: export, industrial, and home centres Trends: lost share to panels cut to size with veneer or
laminate surfaces
BC Wood Specialties
David Cohen 9
DimensionLumber
What: “2 by 4”, “2 by 6”, “2 by 8” construction lumberbulk commodity product with little specialization
Dominates lumber NA production Uses: residential construction & repair/remodeling in NA Where produced: majority of lumber produced in NA Trends: production grew approx. 1.4%/year from 1985-2005
David Cohen 10
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 6
DimensionlumberWhyisa2by4not2”by4”?
4.0”
3.7”
3.5”
2.0” 1.7” 1.5”
Rough sawn After drying After being planed(“nominal” size) (actual size) “Two by four”
David Cohen 11
Timber
• Produced: in NA & Europe (smaller quantity)
• Trends: declining supply & use due to raw material supply
• Architectural value as well as structural role; popular in vacation homes
What: minimum dimensions 5.5”
Uses: post & beam construction & reman
David Cohen 12
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 7
MachineStressRatedLumber(MSR) What: lumber is graded by machine
(bending strength)
Uses: to make engineered structural
products used in construction
Where: made in Canada & EU (MSE)
Trends: increased structural &
architectural uses (examples below)
Roof
trusses
I-beams
David Cohen 13
Solid Wood
SoftwoodLumber
HardwoodTreatedGlued
Finger joined
Edge glued
Boards
Dimension
Timber
MSR
David Cohen 14
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 8
FingerJoinedLumber
What: longer lengths made from shorter stock
Why: removes defects strength &
dimensional stability + uses waste
Production: across Canada, particularly central
& eastern Canada due to small, knotty trees
Uses: in glulam, I‐beams, windows, doors
Trends: relatively stable supply & demand
David Cohen 15
Edge‐gluedPanels
• What: edge‐lamination of wood (like a cutting board)
Uses: to produce dimensionally stable panels for table tops,
desks and solid panels to be covered in veneers
Produced: in regions with low labour costs e.g. China & Vietnam
Trends: stable production and use
Random end grain patterns reduces cupping
David Cohen 16
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 9
TreatedWood
What: treated with chemical to preserves wood from decay & rot Uses: used in external conditions such as decks, walkways, fences Production: most in southern US since species requires no incising
(i.e. scoring wood), in Canada wood requires incising Trends: treatment becoming less effective to minimize human
health & environmental issues
David Cohen 17
HardwoodLumber What: green hardwood lumber often of
mixed widths and length Uses: decorative & architectural purposes
so visual appearance of lumber is key Production: mostly where HW grows Uses: Flooring, trim & molding, joinery,
cabinets, furniture, etc.
David Cohen 18
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 10
Pictures by David Cohen 2001/2003
David Cohen 19
WOOD
Composites Solid Wood
WoodProductsTaxonomy
Panels EngineeredLumber
CompositesWood/Non‐wood
Wood Based
Wood/Cement
Wood/Plastic
Particleboard
MDF
Plywood
OSB
David Cohen 20
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 11
WoodElementsforWoodPanels
Fibres Sawdust Planer shavings
Chips Strands
Veneer sheets
David Cohen 21
Wood‐basedPanels
• Non‐structural panels
– Particleboard
– Medium density fiberboard (MDF) & high density fibreboard (HDF) used for laminate flooring
• Structural panels
– Plywood
– Oriented strandboard (OSB)
David Cohen 22
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 12
Particleboard
• What: non‐structural panel made with particles from sawmill waste
• Uses: smooth surface often covered with laminate used for
cabinet boxes, desks, bookcases, beds, and other low cost furniture
• Produced: throughout NA and EU close to end use due to weight
• Trends: being replaced by MDF which has smooth edges, slow
decline due to lower cost
David Cohen 23
• What: non‐structural panel made from wood fibres from sawmill waste
• Uses: since edges can be machines all four surfaces can be wrapped
with laminate and used for molding, cabinet doors, furniture, etc.
• Produced: over 50% is produced in China for its wood furniture industry
• HDF: high density fibreboard is produced for laminate flooring
• Trends: production follows furniture manufacturing
MediumDensityFiberboard(MDF)
Profiled edges
David Cohen 24
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 13
Plywood
• What: a structural panel produced from softwood veneers
• Uses: for residential construction in NA & concrete forming
• Production: mostly in BC and the US
• Market: has been mostly lost to OSB and continues to
decline
David Cohen 25
Plywood used as house sheathing
Plywood used for concrete forming
David Cohen 26
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 14
OrientedStrandBoard
What: structural panel that uses strands of low quality
hardwoods (e.g. aspen, poplar)
Uses: replacing plywood in most applications e.g. sheathing
Production: mostly in Canada & US, growing in Asia
Trends: overcapacity as global recession hit, demand tied
closely to US new housing starts & remodelingDavid Cohen 27
OSB used as house
sheathing
OSB used as roof decking
David Cohen 28
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 15
ShareofNAwoodpanelproduction
Wood/CementCompositePanels
• What: panels produced by combining small pieces of wood with cement under pressure
• Uses: cut to make acoustic ceiling tiles, roadside noise barriers, and concrete‐filled insulating forms ‐ largest use in NA is exterior siding
• Production: higher proportion of cement to wood fibre and considered a cement product (lighter and lowers GHG footprint)
• Trends: difficult to produce high quality with proprietary mixes• Warning: in the past asbestos bound wood to cement
David Cohen 30
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 16
Wood/PlasticCompositePanels
• What: non-structural material made from wood residues & recycled plastic that has won many environmental awards
• Uses: in NA for decks and walkways, in EU for car parts • Products: have good moisture resistance, dimensional stability,
exterior durability and high resistance to rot• Trends: towards less wood and more plastic to reduce chance
of rotDavid Cohen 31
WOOD
Composites Solid Wood
WoodProductsTaxonomy
Panels EngineeredLumber
CompositesWood/Non‐wood
Wood Based
LVL
OSL
Glulam
David Cohen 32
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 17
Veneer sheets
Lamstock
WoodElementsinEWP
Strands
Veneer strips
David Cohen 33
LaminatedVeneerLumber
• What: is composed of layers of veneer with the grain of each layer running parallel to adjacent layers
• Uses: used on edge as a beam to span long distances or headers and lying flat as flange material for I-beams
• Production: because LVL beams can be very long production is usually close to end use regions
• Trends: increasing use due to uniformity, length and strength• Defects are removed from veneers before manufacture
much stronger material than solid wood
David Cohen 34
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 18
OrientedStrandLumber
• What: boards or beam produced by gluing together long
strands of wood to produce a less variable building material
• Uses: OSL lumber like TimberStrand made from flakes and
used for window frames, door stock, wall studs, and rimboad
while OSL lumber like Parallam made from strips of softwood
veneers and is much stronger and used for high end structural
purposes
TimberStrand
Parallam
David Cohen 35
OrientedStrandLumber
David Cohen 36
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 19
• What: fingerjoined dimension lumber glued together to make a strong stack of solid wood
• Uses: used for beams, columns, trusses while curved glulam produces arches & complex curved figures
• Production: must be produced close to where it is used; produced in NA, EU and Japan extensively
• Trends: use as architectural feature increasing
GlueLaminatedTimber(Glulam)
David Cohen 37
CurvedGlueLaminatedLumber(Glulam)
• Curved members can be created
• Tighter curves require thinner laminations
• Architectural as well as structural
David Cohen 38
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 20
David Cohen 39
Engineered WoodProducts
I‐Beams
Trusses
Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)
WoodProductsTaxonomy
David Cohen 40
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 21
Cross‐LaminatedTimber
More technical content and images on CLT
• What: large panels made from laminations of selected dimensional lumber with each adjacent layer is oriented with grain perpendicular (like plywood made from solid wood)
• Uses: tall wood buildings as walls, floors & stairs & oil drilling platforms
• Production: 1st plant in NA in BC, more plants being proposed; more common in Europe
• Trends: growing interest in NA but demand not greater than supplynew plants in US/Canada with imports from EU
David Cohen 41
Cross-Laminated Timber
Photos taken at Structurlam
David Cohen 42
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 22
Cross-Laminated Timber18 story residential building (wooden construction) at UBC
David Cohen 43
• What: an engineered wood product used as floor or roof support instead of solid wood with a flange & web (uses 40% less wood)
• Elements: Flange can be made from MSR lumber, LVL, or Parallam while web can be made from OSB or Plywood
• Use: used on over half of all floors in new house construction in NA• Production: custom manufactured close to construction side • Trends: growing concern for fire safety & off gassing
I‐ Beams
David Cohen 44
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 23
Trusses
Pitched chord truss Parallel chord truss
• What: an engineered wood product made up of shorter pieces of MSR lumber used to support roofs in single and multi family homes
• Uses: to support new or renovated roofs in houses & condominiums and now used in over 90% of new houses built in NA
• Production: due to their awkward shapes they are manufactured close to where they are used to minimize shipping
• Trend: Growth in multi family buildings limited by fire considerationsDavid Cohen 45
background
solid wood Composites
ELC EWPDavid Cohen 46
Taxonomy of Wood Products 2017
David Cohen 24
WoodProductsTaxonomyWOOD
Composites Solid Wood
PanelsEngineered
LumberComposites
SoftwoodLumber
Wood/Non-wood
Wood Based
Wood/Cement
Wood/Plastic
Particleboard
MDF
Plywood
OSB
LVL
OSL
Glulam
HardwoodTreatedGlued
Finger joined
Edge glued
Boards
Dimension
Timber
MSR
Engineered WoodProducts
I-Beams
Trusses
Cross Laminated Timber
David Cohen 47