Profile of Wood Use in Nonresidential Building Construction: Fid-Bau Portal

Profile of Wood Use in Nonresidential Building Construction

H. Spelter / R. G. Anderson

This report contains information on the recent status of wood-based building materials in nonresidential building construction and highlights some of the problems and opportunities wood manufacturers face. The first section covers information from the survey about characteristics of new nonresidential and nonhousekeeping building construction, such as floor area, regional distribution, and type of construction. The second provides detailed information on estimated wood use. The third presents estimates of wood use per dollar of construction and per square foot of floor space (use factors). The fourth describes the materials used in various building components. Nine categories of buildings were defined for the purposes of this study; offices, stores, industrial schools, hospitals, religious, recreational, nonhousekeeping, and public. Estimated consumption of wood products based on the findings of this survey and reported 1982 construction activity were as follows: Lumber, 2.1 billion board feet; Plywood, 1.7 billion square feet (3/8 in. basis); Structural particleboard (SPB), 41 million square feet (3/8 in. basis); Particleboard, 41 million square feet (3/4 in. basis); Hardboard, 50 million square feet (1/8 in. basis); Shingles, 870,000 squares (1 square = 100 ft 2).