In a future sustainable society, everything essential to our citizens’ daily living, like high-rise buildings, food, clothes, cars, energy, electronic devices and medicine, can all be made from wood or polymers and chemicals from wood. Recognizing the potential of wood and wood polymers, USDA Forest Service scientists and partners have been developing innovative technologies to use these renewable materials in products that are essential to our daily living.

During National Forest Products Week, we are highlighting the ways the Forest Service is making strategic investments to grow a bio-based economy that sustains healthy forests as well as reducing greenhouse gases and the accumulation of permanent chemicals in our environment through science and innovation at the Forest Products Laboratory.

Increasing viable new product markets from woody biomass supports active forest management by providing landowners with income to do forest stand improvement activities. Every day, we identify and conduct innovative research on ways to use wood and fiber that contribute to the conservation and productivity of the nation’s forests.

Forest products are a large part of our daily lives—more than we often realize. For so many, forests give us the wood that frames our homes, the energy that heats our children’s schools, and even the raw material for cutting-edge medicine and technology.

In fact, Forest Products Laboratory research contributes to the science that makes these products safe and effective. Cutting-edge science conducted at the lab is proving that wood can be used to improve products that are far removed from traditional forest products, like nanocellulose and insulating foam from lignin.

I am excited about the future of forest products. Wood is one of the most adaptable materials on the planet. Our scientists are making progress in the ways we use wood—from the smallest wood composites at a nano scale to the largest in tall wood buildings.

They are researching nanotechnology and creating new wood markets that can help make active forest management financially feasible for landowners and reduce our environmental footprint. For example, combining a small amount of nanocellulose from wood in a concrete mixture reduces the amount of cement needed by 20% and substantially reduces emissions from production.

Lab scientists are also designing and testing new wood materials for structural use that will meet building code performance requirements, having a direct effect on building codes throughout the U.S. The Ascent Building in Milwaukee was constructed due to our research into cross-laminate timber.

Products made from wood, like wood buildings, store tremendous amounts of carbon and reduce the fossil energy needed for construction over alternatives like concrete, steel and aluminum. Forest Service scientists are developing international carbon sequestration standards and protocols to help facilitate conservation finance and climate change mitigation, including tools that capture revenues from forest-related goods and services to support the potential for ecosystem service markets. Additionally, other nations are investing in wood science and innovation as a solution to climate change and to create economic advantage as demand for sustainable bio-based products grows.

As we celebrate National Forest Products Week, let us remember that forest products help to create the healthy, sustainable growth of our nation’s and our world’s magnificent forests. 

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