Archive for the 'Green Building' Category

Did you know? Reliable Truss and Components has in-house design and engineering departments

Published November 14, 2013 Building Industry , Building Materials , Building Technology , Construction , Green Building , Lumber , News , Reliable Truss , Remodeling , Technology , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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reliable truss floor tracker truss assembly

Reliable Truss and Components, a division of National Lumber, has in-house design and engineering departments to work with you every step of the way from your initial quote to the final delivery of your product. When it comes to wood and steel trusses, structural components and custom prefabrication, our experts here at Reliable Truss have the ability to offer our customers efficient project coordination and higher quality and more feature-rich products than offered by our competitors. Our innovative processes allow us to provide exceptional service from “under one roof”.

“I wanted to extend my personal thanks to you and the rest of the folks at National Lumber and Reliable Truss for that fantastic tour. I found it to be a very valuable learning experience. While I was generally familiar with metal plate wood trusses, watching the actual manufacturing was quite an experience. I was very impressed by your plant and also by the sophistication of the MiTek software. Previously I was not aware how extensive a capability existed for pre-fabbing wall and floor sections. Again, the machinery and your plant were very impressive. For me the Alpine steel trusses were a complete revelation. In the past I had done some work with light structural steel trusses (angles, tees, and gussets), but these light gauge steel trusses are definitely something to look for a way to use. Thanks again.”  Thomas J. Vaughan Jr, P.E., GSC Engineering, Inc.

Our sales team is exceptionally versed with industry knowledge, and is here to assist you with choosing the components you need for your project and making sure your delivery is on time. Our registered engineers have the expertise to design the components you need for your project, all the while considering our environment, by practicing green building methods to minimize waste. The Reliable Truss facility is state-of-the-art, with fully integrated building industry modeling software to high production automated equipment, allowing us to provide customization and additional solutions to our customers.

If you work with a specific National Lumber representative, please ask about these products and services. If you don’t have a specific contact, you can email insidesales@national-lumber.com and we will have someone contact you.

Thank you for your business. We are honored to be your supplier for building materials and more!

The National Lumber Family of Companies

www.national-lumber.com

National Lumber's Family of Companies: National Lumber, Kitchen Views, Reliable Truss, National Millwork, Pro Insulators

Do You Build for Better Energy Efficiency?

Published October 24, 2013 Building Industry , Construction , Green , Green Building , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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A public utility company in Arizona is in the process of lobbying for stricter building codes in order to promote construction of more energy-efficient buildings. Many builders of small to medium sized buildings may not invest in energy-saving features or green products due to the initial costs, regardless of the savings and maintenance benefits the client may reap in the long run.

Ryan Randazzo, Arizona Republic, describes why it’s better to start with green building from the start in his article Building Better Energy Efficiency. He also explains why retrofitting an existing building would be beneficial for now, and for the future.

architect looks at plans for building with better energy efficiency in mind

Planning to build for better energy efficiency, right from the project’s beginning,  will result in better cost savings in the long run once the project is completed.

  • Do you agree that it would be better in the long run, enough that you would start with a green building plan from the beginning?
  • How do you feel about retrofitting existing smaller buildings with more energy-efficient upgrades?
  • How do you feel about the idea of increased government regulation of green features through building codes?

Real Benefits of Building “Green”

Published May 16, 2013 Benjamin Moore Paints , Building Industry , Building Materials , Construction , Engineered Wood Products , Exterior Millwork , Green , Green Building , Lumber , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Over the past decade, we’ve seen some interesting developments in the building industry. One trend coming up steadily is “green” building. With a more health conscious society, making buildings with eco-friendly materials that are made for sustainability is becoming more widely accepted and encouraged. At first, it was a more expensive process than conventional non-green building, however, today the monetary playing field is beginning to level out somewhat.

By starting with a green thought process, the planning and design of the project can be tailored to include more efficient and environmentally friendly materials. There is more flexibility in purchasing green materials from vendors that have expanded their stock and adjusted pricing in order to offer these supplies more widely and readily.

Construction worker using green building materials

National Lumber offers a variety of green building materials for customers. Boise, Benjamin Moore, Centurion, Claymark and Guardian are some our featured product lines.

Builders, designers and consumers all have opportunities to benefit from this way of building and living. In an article on curbed.com, different costs are evaluated and broken out visually to show the real savings that can be obtained by careful planning at the beginning of a building project.  Builders and developers may see the value in these buildings more quickly because these buildings usually command, and receive, a higher selling price. Owners of a green building will see savings on energy costs and tenants will feel happier and healthier knowing their space is good for, not only their environment; it’s good for their own health, as well.

We have taken a meaningful approach to implementing and practicing green methods in our own work environment by installing energy efficient lighting and converting office functions to paperless wherever possible. Read more about the green methods we utilize and materials we supply.

Do you use “green” elements in your building projects currently? Are customers requesting you to use green elements in their projects? Have you seen cost savings firsthand?

National Lumber

Green Building LEEDs the Way

Published February 17, 2011 Green Building Leave a Comment
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Many builders are still trying to get their heads around the relatively new certification program known as LEED. There seems to be so much involved, without a huge amount of payback to them. Of course, the overall ownership costs do end up being lower, especially in energy cost savings. However, there are other advantages to building to LEED certification standards besides selling the energy savings, including greater quality construction, increased comfort, and fewer callbacks for construction issues. Because of these benefits, contractors that build such buildings actually have increased customer satisfaction, an increased referral rate and higher sale values. Overall, since green building is growing in popularity among home buyers, building green also means more sales and more profit.

LEED does have a lot of steps and prerequisites, but the U.S. Green Building Council website outlines everything you need to know on their website (www.usgbc.org) and there are plenty of tools and resources on the Web to help. National Lumber also has many of the green building materials and supplies you’ll need for your projects to reach LEED certification status: insulation, doors & windows, FSC-certified and engineered lumber, and drywall, as well as expert engineering and design services to make sure you are building the best-performing building that you can.

Understanding R-Value and Avoiding Insulation Scams

Published December 22, 2010 Building Industry , Green Building , Helpful Hints , Insulation 1 Comment
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Green Building Advisor has a great article on understanding R-value and avoiding insulation scams.

Here is an excerpt of this article:

“Some marketers of radiant barriers or spray foam insulation imply that R-value measurements are meaningless. On the contrary, R-value is a useful measurement. But just because you know a product’s R-value doesn’t mean you know everything necessary to predict heat flow through a wall or ceiling. R-value is just one factor among many to be considered when deciding which insulation to use. Builders must also understand many other topics, including air leakage and moisture movement. No one has yet invented a ‘magic number’ that replaces the requirement for builders to study and understand building science principles.

Does radiant heat pass through insulation like radio waves?

Another scare tactic employed by some marketers of radiant barriers is the idea that conventional insulation materials — sometimes called ‘mass insulation’ — allow radiant heat to pass right through them. Scam artists have been known to warn builders that ‘mass insulation is transparent to radiant heat.’ The implication is that a layer of aluminum foil is necessary to prevent radiant heat from traveling like radio waves right through a deep layer of cellulose.

In fact, most mass insulation products do a good job of stopping radiant heat flow. Radiant heat easily travels through air (for example, from a wood stove to nearby skin) or a vacuum (for example, from the sun to the earth). But radiant energy can’t travel through a solid material.”

Read the entirety of this article on the Green Building Advisor blogs.

National Lumber is here for all of your insulation needs. We are a proud retailer of Guardian insulation products. Learn more by calling 1-800-370-WOOD (9663) or by visiting national-lumber.com

Green Basics & Blogs From Green Building Advisor

Published August 27, 2010 Building Industry , Green Building , Helpful Hints Leave a Comment
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Green Building Advisor logo

GreenBuildingAdvisor.com has a free email newsletter that has some excellent information on Green Basics, Green Homes, Strategies & Tips, and Q&A, as well as some excellent blogs. You don’t need to be a GBAPro member to access this wide array of materials, with the exception of the individual product reviews in their Product Guide.

Their latest feature is a great piece called “Ten Green Building Myths” that also has links to a related article for each of those myths. Check it out!

National Lumber is a Certified Green Dealer and an FSC Certified lumberyard who can serve you with all your green building materials and other needs. Check out the Green Initiatives page on our website!

Navigating the Road to Green Building

Published July 30, 2010 Events , Green Building 1 Comment
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Our seminar, Navigating the Road to Green Building, drew a full house

Our seminar, Navigating the Road to Green Building, drew a full house

National Lumber is a Certified Green Dealer, an FSC Certified lumberyard, and an EPA Lead-Safe certified firm. Through our Professional Remodelers Organization (PRO Force) program we provide various training seminars to our members and customers.

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 was National Lumber’s first ever green building seminar, Navigating the Road to Green Building. The keynote speaker was Peter Yost, Technical Director of Green Building Advisor, who gave a riveting presentation on how green building, building science, quality, and durability all go hand-in-hand. The image below was just one example given by Peter Yost of how ignoring building science results in failed structures. Peter explained how the various elements combined to cause this failure.

Rotted roof in the Northeast, caused by ignoring building science

Rotted roof in the Northeast, caused by ignoring building science

Next, construction law attorney Andrea Goldman discussed legal issues of green construction and how to protect yourself from the additional risks involved with proper contracts. She also touched on the new EPA lead law.

After a scrumptious dinner buffet feast, the seminar continued with Daniel Glickman of Sustainable Construction Services. He covered how to schedule and run green certified jobs through programs such as NAHB Green, LEED, and Energy Star. Daniel also discussed the importance of controlling your subcontractors. Some attendees expressed the difficulty of obtaining cooperation for the new requirements, such as documentation that must be completed and that waste must be properly sorted. Daniel said that compliance for these green programs can be attained by tying results to the subcontractors’ payment. Once everyone gets used to the new way of doing things, it will become standard.

Afterward, Greg Krantz of Massachusetts New Homes with ENERGY STAR® (www.energystarhomes.com) exhaustively covered the existing programs, rebates and incentives, as well as looking at the future of homes and energy codes.

National Lumber hopes to hold more of these seminar events in the future at minimal cost to contractors. Through these seminars you will be able to have the information you need to serve your customers better and apply building science principles for the long-term quality results that will bring your business continual referrals and repeat business.

To learn about National Lumber’s upcoming events, visit www.national-lumber.com/events

Enlarge Your Bottom Line by Reducing Your Waste Line

Published July 7, 2010 Building Industry , Green Building , Helpful Hints Leave a Comment
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Going, going, gone green? Not if you are still framing your projects the way your daddy did. Green means more than using sustainable sources of materials or hyper–insulating your projects. The three “R’s” of the green movement are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. There should be a fourth “R”, Rethink. Rethink your processes and how you have built in the past and where your profits are coming from in the future. Material used wisely is money. To be truly green, you must reduce the amount of material going into your project and at the same time reduce, reuse or recycle the waste (trash) coming out. Advanced framing techniques (a.k.a. Optimum Value Engineering and Value Engineered) focus on reducing the amount of material used in a home as well as reducing the waste.

Some advanced framing techniques include:

  • Inline framing – Stacking rafters over studs over floor joists
  • Increasing on center spacing of framing members – 19.2” and 24”
  • Using the “right size” headers and eliminating headers in non-load bearing walls
  • Utilizing Engineered Wood Products in floors, walls and roofs
  • Prefabricated wall panels
  • Designing with roof and floor trusses
  • Purchasing pre-cut, ready to install framing components.
  • Purchasing prefabricated components, such as, stairs, dormers, etc.
  • Designing the project to dimensions of framing materials (2’ increments)

The quickest, most cost effective way of going green without breaking the budget on redesign or re-engineering is to make the most of pre-cut and ready to install framing components. Providing materials in a “ready to install” state is a growing trend in the building materials supply industry. Panelizing, componentizing and prefabrication can be applied to almost every project. The advantages include:

  • Little or no on-site waste
  • Faster construction cycle
  • No on-site loss of material
  • Purchasing only the correct amount of material
  • Limited installation errors

Some suppliers add a minimal charge for pre-cutting materials; however, when compared to the cost of dumpsters, wasted material, lost time, lost material and lower labor costs, the savings can be significant. Recently, at an active adult project in Lexington, MA the framing contractor decided to use a pre-cut engineered I-Joist floor system from National Lumber. He claims his time to build has been reduced by one day over the previous duplex with the same floor plan built using nominal length I-joists. The savings came from the floor system only — the pre-cut I-joists were labeled to correspond to the full color layout provided by National Lumber’s Engineering Department to speed up installation and ensure proper placement. Imagine the possibilities of using a total ready-to-install package of wall panels, roof trusses and precision end trimmed components.

The benefits are easy to see: lower construction costs, lower disposal costs and smaller environmental impact =  a smaller Waste Line and an Enlarged Bottom Line.

– Phill Barrett, National Lumber Engineered Wood Products Division

To discuss planning your next project with National Lumber, contact Phill at 508-509-9310 or email pbarrett@national-lumber.com.

Green Growth Seen in Multifamily Building

Published June 29, 2010 Green Building , Reliable Truss Leave a Comment
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Lexington Place at the Center - Lexington, MA

Lexington Place at the Center - Lexington, MA - From the Nauset Construction website (http://www.nausetconstruction.com)

This Lexington, Massachusetts project was featured in the June 2010 issue of Construction Executive Magazine. You can read the full article about this project here: Saving Green

Excerpted from Construction Executive Magazine, June 2010:

“Multifamily project developers nationwide are seeking contractors that can deliver projects quickly—and without a significant learning curve—to meet consumer demands for energy savings and sustainable features.

In Lexington, Mass., Oaktree Development partnered with a green-savvy design and construction team to deliver a project that would provide a healthy environment and convenient city access for the building’s occupants. Lexington Place at the Center, a luxury, 30-unit mixed-use project in Lexington, MA was completed last June and officially designated as LEED Silver in the fall.

Oaktree and the project team as a whole have been ahead of the sustainability curve, and it became evident that a lot of the green practices outlined by the owner would work well toward the marketability of the project and its LEED certification,” says Benjamin Goldfarb, vice president of Nauset Construction, Needham, Mass., which acted as construction manager at-risk for the job. Nauset met with the development and consultation team early in the game—attending several pre-construction meetings, town meetings and group discussions on green building system options.

The subcontracting team also guided materials selection and helped improve project efficiency, Goldfarb says. National Lumber, for example, produced wall panels offsite, leading to efficient delivery and no excess wood on the jobsite.

Workers installing the wood wall panels manufactured by Reliable Truss. Picture from Nauset Construction (www.nausetconstruction.com)

Workers installing the wood wall panels manufactured by Reliable Truss. Picture from Nauset Construction (www.nausetconstruction.com)

Reliable Truss, the wall panel and truss design & manufacturing division of National Lumber, manufactured the wall panels at their state-of-the-art facilities in New Bedford, MA. If you want to learn more about National Lumber’s green expertise and manufacturing capabilities, visit our Green Initiatives page or call 1-800-370-WOOD (9663).

Certified Green Dealer Program Launches New Website

Published January 22, 2010 Building Industry , Green Building , News Leave a Comment
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The Certified Green Dealer Program, of which National Lumber is proudly a part, has this past week launched a brand new website. If you have any questions about green building, the certified experts at National Lumber can answer all your questions and provide you with the green building materials you need to meet LEED requirements.

But there is also a great page of green building links on the website that will be helpful to both contractors and homeowners.

Visit the Green Initiatives section of the National Lumber website for more information.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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