Wood reinforced with fiberglass potentially offers "green" or environment-friendly products, according to a life-cycle inventory (LCI) that investigated the energy consumed and environmental emissions produced during its premanufacture and manufacturing stages. The analysis was conducted by researchers at ERG, Inc., of Lexington, Mass., and reported in the Forest Products Journal in June, 2005.
The reinforced wood door system analyzed in the study, for example, uses patented technology developed at the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, Wis. The fiberglass reinforcement, primarily at joints, hinges and latches, improves the strength and durability of the doors, making them suitable for use in some residential applications where increased security is a primary concern.
The life-cycle inventory looked at energy consumption and emissions involved in acquiring raw materials, such as harvesting lumber or mining iron ore, and in manufacturing a typical door. The study did not include distribution, product use or disposal.
The LCI analysis quantifies 44 atmospheric emissions (including five greenhouse gases), 32 waterborne wastes, energy consumption and solid-waste generation associated with the premanufacturing and manufacturing states of a door's life cycle.
An additional environmental benefit from using wood-fiberglass doors is the fact that the doors can be manufactured using low-grade, small diameter timber.
Lynn Knight, vice president of ERG, Inc., and Melissa Huff, senior chemical engineer at Franklin Assoc., a division of ERG, Inc., conducted the LCI analysis. In addition to Knight and Huff, Janet I. Stockhausen, patent advisor at the USDA FPL, and Robert J. Ross, supervisory general research engineer at FPL, coauthored the article published in the Forest Products Journal.AScribe Newswire
