Cedar Roofing

As an independent CSSB member, we proudly offer shakes and shingles from all manufacturers that are lightweight, attractive, naturally decay resistant, fire, wind and impact resistant, and offered in a variety of product styles and finishes. It is already a proven fact that wood designed buildings consume less energy, emit less greenhouse gases, release less air pollution, discharge less water pollution, use less resources from a weighted resource perspective and produce less solid wastes than steel or concrete designed buildings (Pages 12-13, Energy and the Environment in Residential Construction, Sustainable Building Series, No.1, Canadian Wood Council, 10M-09-04). Cedar roofing materials have high R-values (Thermal resistance) and this excellent insulative quality keeps homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. This conserves energy and reduces the imprint left on the environment. The cedar shake and shingle industry maximizes the wood resource brought into its manufacturing facilities. A little known fact about cedar shakes and shingles is that many are actually made from salvaged wood fibre, that is, wood left over from past logging work or windblown material left on the forest floor. With this material being of unsuitable size for lumber mills, cedar shake and shingle producers use helicopter and manual methods to remove it from the forests in a habitat sensitive way, thus ensuring the best use of a valuable resource. “Only one third of one percent of BC’s forests are logged each year. BC’s land base is 95 million hectares (235 million acres), larger than France and Germany combined. Two-thirds of BC’s land base is forested (60 million hectares or 149 million acres), an area twice as big as all of the New England states and New York state combined. More than half of BC’s forests (35 million hectares or 86 million acres) will likely never be logged.” (Source: www.bcforestinformation.com/undisturbed_overview.asp).

Trees are a renewable resource so the use of wood building products is an environmentally sound choice.

Environmental ConsiderationsCedar shakes and shingles minimize the overall environmental cost to society, thus reflecting smart building practices. As a specifier you need to make the right building product choices for your clients. Specifiers are encouraged to check if the particular green building system used gives all types of building products equal consideration. Some helpful questions to ask are:

• Is the building product manufactured from a renewable resource?
• Is the building product recyclable or does it sit in landfills for a long time?
• What is the energy efficiency of the building product once it has been installed?
• How long has the product been proven in actual field applications?
• Are you comparing LCA date calculated with the same methodology and date types?

With such an array of data in the marketplace today, informed, well-researched choices will help clients the most. Choosing wood, specifically cedar roofing materials, is a decision based upon sound judgment, proven product performance and impressive environmental benefits.

The Marketplace Has Gone Green

The environmental attributes of building products are important considerations for project specifiers. Architects, builders and their clients now include environmental cost factors in their decision making process. Life cycle data is to obtaining green building ratings now commonly seen in request for proposal documents. In 2007, the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau (“CSSB”) commissioned a Life Cycle Assessment of four Western Red Cedar Shake and Shingle Roofing Products: 24″ x ¾” Heavy Handsplit and Resawn Shakes; 24″ x ½” Medium Handsplit and Resawn Shakes; 24″ x 5/8″ Tapersawn Shakes; and 18″ Perfection Shingles. The preliminary findings of this report are included below.

Being certified or granted points under a green building program requires the structure to meet a host of detailed project criteria. Some of this project data can be sourced through Life Cycle Assessment (“LCA”) and especially its most developed component, Life Cycle Impact (“LCI”). There are tools that provide quantitative and scientific analyses of the environmental impact of product and systems. These rating systems require compilation/evaluation of material and energy resources used and emissions to air, water and land throughout the life cycle of a product. This included raw material extraction, through production and ultimately to the product’s end-of-life.

Life Cycle Impact ResultThis table presents results for one of the four products by unit on an absolute and percent contribution basis per roofing square: Western Red Cedar (WRC) 24″ x ¾” Heavy Handsplit and Resawn Shakes

Courtesy Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, A Life Cycle Assessment of Western Red Cedar Shake and Shingle Roofing Products, March 2007

To put some of the Table’s results in context, it was determined that the primary energy use and global warming potential (greenhouse gas emissions) for a square (100 sg.ft.) of heavy handsplit and resawn shakes was equivalent to the energy released, and greenhouse gases emitted from, utilizing a third of a 20 lb. BBQ tank of propane. These results are considered to be quite low when contrasted with similar results for alternative building products and reflects the labor, rather than energy, intensive nature of the manufacturing of handsplit shakes. Production of WRC shakes and shingles has a small impact on the environment, resulting in a high quality product with a lower embodied effect. Co-products produced during the manufacture of shakes and shingles include wood chips, hog fuel and sawdust, all of which are used later on as raw wood furnished for other wood products manufacture, CO2 neutral biomass energy production and landscaping mulch. A 2007 study conducted by the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute determined that “less than 1% of the incoming resource is categorized as waste destined for landfilling.”

(Executive Summary, A Life Cycle Assessment of Western Red Cedar Shake and Shingle Roofing Products, Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, March 2007)

HANDSPLIT SHAKES

HANDSPLIT SHAKES are split with the natural grain of the wood and have a highly textured surface. They are produced in three types: Handsplit-and-Resawn, Straight-split and Tapersplit. Lengths are 18 inch (455mm) and 24 inch (610mm).

DOUBLE A TAPERSAWN

Eco Exteriors is able to source thickness of 5/8″ to 1½”. Computer guided bandsaws eliminate circular grooves on the faces and the thick/thin variations inherent in traditional sawing methods. The result is a 100% edge grain shake which is highly resistant to cupping and curling and lays down smoother than any other wood product on the market. In fact, when we’re so convinced of the lasting nature of these shakes that we’ve given them a 50 year limited warranty!

For more information about this revolutionary product please click here to contact us today.