• Introduction
• Timber v Plastic
• Timber concerns

Timber is more environmentally friendly than aluminium or plastic for a number of reasons, the most important of which are:

• Wood is a naturally renewable material, therefore sustainable.
• Wood absorbs CO2 rather than increasing emissions. Wood can help in the fight against climate change.

Over 90% of the wood used in UK construction is from softwood grown in Europe. European forests are not only protected, but are well managed - caring for the local environment in the forest and by replacing more trees than are being cut. There is now more than twice as much wood in the forests as there was 100 years ago, and every year, Europe's forests are increasing by an area about the size of Cyprus - that's almost 100 football pitches per hour.

Good managed forestry also helps to counter the "greenhouse effect", since growing trees absorbs carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. They act as a carbon sink.

Managed felling and replanting increases this effect, since young, growing trees absorb more CO2 trees than older, mature trees and 1m3 growth absorbs 1000kg CO2 and gives off 727kg O2.

When timber is converted into different timber products it gives off no toxins nor does it give off harmful emissions.

Unlike steel, cement, bricks or plastic windows, wood requires less energy to convert it into usable form. A plastic window frame has more than seven times the energy input in manufacture of a wooden window frame of similar size and design. By using timber windows instead of PVC-U the world will SAVE around 0.5 tonnes of CO2 for every 10 windows and up to 4 tonnes if used instead of aluminium.

Trees are converted into logs, seasoned and then shipped around the world. Timber is further converted into useable products at the factory. Generally it only requires electricity (usually hydro electricity in Scandinavian) to change logs into blanks of timber. There is minimal waste in the production processes, and the residue material from timber component production is commonly used in the manufacture of other products such as paper, particleboard, wood chip, as fuel sources, or in agriculture.

Many of the larger timber users and poultry farmers forward the shavings onto generating stations where they it is used for fuel. Any timber waste that does find itself discarded to nature is not harmful to the environment as it decays back to Mother Nature.

Wood is healthy, has attractive grain patterns and warm surfaces, and people just like to touch it. Timber is a perfect material for windows and has benefits of extremely good acoustic, insulation properties, can be redecorated, repaired, (if needed), and re-used or recycled.

TIMBER (Softwood or Hardwood)	versus	PLASTIC (PVC / PVCU)
Occasional maintenance required		Regular cleaning & maintenance required. (A myth that plastic is maintenance free)
Cleaning cycle up to 2 years		Cleaning cycle 3 months (window cleaners generally clean glass and not the framing)
Timber windows have a long tried and tested history (many lasting over 100 years)		Plastic windows are now being replaced
Different grades and species of timber available		Different thickness of plastic / grade & quality. Often cheap windows have thinner plastic and higher percentage of fillers in the plastic
Inherent structural strength of material		Needs reinforcement (often omitted to save costs)
Timber will decay if not maintained		Plastic does not decay but does become brittle and crack and can discolour especially in sunlight
Fully factory finished windows available with up to 8 year repainting periods		Paint systems now available to overcoat plastic that has degraded and discoloured
Infinite variety of colours by combination of finishes and timber species used		White or simulated wood grain other colours obtained by toxic paints.
Colours can be changed at any stage or when redecorating is required		Changing colours on site is not so easy and care must be taken from toxic paints
Paints for timber have long history and extensive test results		Paints for plastic are at an early stage and lack evidence of durability
Damage to frames can be repaired by any craftsman or DIY enthusiast		Damage cannot be easily repaired and window profiles change therefore often a complete new frame is required
Timber does move (expand and contract) with extremes of temperature and hence withstands heat better than plastic		Plastic expands and contracts significantly more than timber. Brown and dark colours require more liberties when fitting
Susceptible to moisture uptake if surface coatings damaged		Not affected by moisture
Hardware can be fixed easily to frames		Reinforcements required to hold hardware correctly
Replacement of hardware easy		Damaged hardware difficult to replace
Made to measure		Made to measure
Trade person required to fit		Often self trained / part of team of fitters
Timber is environmentally friendly (production processes require less energy to manufacture)		High energy cost in production
Timber is a renewable resource and there are more trees growing now that 100 years ago		Oil resources now starting to run out
Timber absorbs carbon dioxide - trees are the lungs of our planet providing oxygen		Processing and recycling plastics gives off chemicals which add to the climate change effect
Fire - Timber turns to charcoal protecting the outside of the timber and gives off smoke		Fire - Plastic melts giving off very dangerous toxins that suffocate any person who inhales the smoke
Once timber is no longer required it decays in the soil		Plastic takes 100s of years to decay and gives off dangerous toxins
Recyclable - care must be taken with treated wood		Expensive and dangerous to recycle, unless performed by specialist recyclers
Renewable resource		Not renewable - exhaustible
Environmentally friendly		Not environmentally friendly
Sustainable from well managed forest		Made from oil

Ambass-A-door is a timber window manufacturer and we have examined the "Timber Versus Plastic" in an unbiased way. We (Ambass-A-door) are not scientists or experts in the field of comparing different material, as we do not have access to test results carried out by the experts in their laboratories, or compare weather and other environmental disasters that are now changing our planet.

Our Government and indeed governments of other countries have to listen to various world organisations. These organisations give unbiased information, as concern is shown about the way and why our planet is changing. They want the planet to be a safer place for future generations to live. Organisations like Greenpeace have written articles on:

• Look out - your choice of window frame could seriously affect the health of our planet
• PVC alternatives database
• PVC free solutions
• PVC recycling
• UK Government misses the point

Timber concerns of TROPICAL forest destruction and illegal logging

Forests grow on a surface covering about 1/3rd of the world's landmass. So many of the oldest tropical rainforests in the world are being cut down to provide areas of soil for growing crops. In these areas it's the clearing of the land that is more important than the timber it can harvest. Many of the forests are harvested for the timber that is in demand and the trees that do not have a use, are burnt. The trees are not replanted, unlike forests in Scandinavian countries where there are now more trees growing than there were over 100 years ago. Areas of tropical forests have been set aside, so no logging takes place. Like any market that requires a supply and demand there will be less scrupulous people wanting to earn an "illegal buck". Various schemes have been set up to manage the selective harvesting of timber. The trees are harvested, documented all the way from the forest to the importers timber yard. Schemes like FSC (forest stewardship council), CSA (Canadian Standards Association), MTCC (Malaysian Timber Council Certification) PEFC ( program for the evaluation of forest certification), SFI (Sustainable forest initiative) have now been running for many years. This may not stop all illegal logging, but has made it 100% more difficult for illegal trees finding their way into the importers, who only purchase trees from the schemes that are running.

The most common misunderstanding is that "ALL (or most) windows use hardwood and destroy forests in South America or the Far East". In fact 97% of softwood and 63% of hardwood used in the UK is of European origin. A very small percentage of wood used in this country is from the Far-East and Central / South America (1.7%)

Wood is healthy, has attractive grain patterns, warm surfaces, and people just like to touch it. Timber is a perfect material for windows and a perfect partner helping to keep the worlds environment protected.

Wood is healthy, sustainable, renewable, attractive, warm to touch, very tactile, recyclable, and for more information please contact Wood for Good (www.woodforgood.com).