Your Home And Your Environment
Enjoy the satisfaction of doing your part!
Housing Construction in the United States is undergoing a dramatic change as the abundant
forests from which raw materials were obtained are no longer adequate to meet continuing
growth demands.
Today we face severe wood shortages as many mature forests have already been harvested. It is
estimated that only approximately ten percent of the remaining trees are available for construction
applications. It is believed that most American construction wood producing forests of today are five to ten
years away from maturation.
Demand is now driving the requirement to harvest younger trees. This practice is yielding wood
which is of a substantially lower quality. As an example, a piece of 2" x 4" (number one grade
lumber), is equivalent to a (grade three lumber) ten years ago.
Wood prices continue to rise due to demand and shortages. The National Association of Home
Builders estimates that the cost of constructing the frame for an average home has increased five
thousand dollars ($5000.00) in the past two years.
Today’s construction challenges resulting from the use of wood are well documented and include
higher costs, construction time delays, material availability and quality control.
Forecasting experts in the United States indicate that wood prices will continue to increase for the
foreseeable future.
To construct the average 2000 SF home it requires 16 to 18 mature trees.
An average 2000 SF steel frame home can be constructed using material from 6 to 8 recycled
automobiles.

“Steel is without question the most practical and environmentally compatible option for framing available to the public today.” |