This paper examines the current wood tracking information systems used in international wood trade aiming to prevent and control illegally logged timber and wood products trade. Moreover, innovative log tracking mechanisms and technologies are also described and assessed. Wood tracking can add value to the wood product, by establishing an information system aiming to recognize and locate legal ...

The system of model building codes and voluntary product standards used in the United States for structural lumber and engineered wood products can appear complicated and confusing to those introduced to it for the first time. This paper discusses the various types of structural wood products commonly used in U.S. residential and commercial construction, and the system of building codes and pro...

Wood – and all other plant biomass – is ultimately the product of photosynthesis in living plants. The sun’s energy is combined with carbon dioxide (CO2) and water to form simple sugars. These sugars are then converted biochemically in trees to form wood. While wood is a remarkably durable and potentially long-lasting biomaterial, the sunlight energy can be released (along with the CO2 and wate...

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood is a preservative treated wood construction product that grew in use in the 1970s for both residential and industrial applications. Although some countries have banned the use of the product for some applications, others have not, and the product continues to enter the waste stream from construction, demolition and remodeling projects. CCA-treated wo...

This compendium provides extensions to the research first reported in the December 2005 Wood and Fiber Science Special Issue (WFS 2005) devoted to CORRIM’s Reports on Environmental Performance of Wood Building Materials. The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) is a nonprofit research consortium made up of 15 research institutions dedicated to developing comprehens...

Adhesives have played and will continue to play an important role in the efficient utilization of wood resources. Early Egyptians used adhesives to attach rare veneers to wood furniture. Today, adhesives play a vital role in allowing almost all types and sizes of wood to be converted to functional products. For centuries, wood was bonded using biobased adhesives. In the 20th century, synthetic ...

Understanding what makes a good wood adhesive is difficult since the type of adhesive, wood species, bonding process, and resultant products vary considerably. Wood bonds are subjected to a variety of tests that reflect the different product performance criteria in diverse countries. The most common tests involve some type of moisture resistance; both wood and adhesive factors influence this mo...