Why are glulams green? Well, look at their embodied energy, e.g. all the energy required to harvest the wood and manufacture the beams. Compared to reinforced concrete or steel, glulams are less energy intensive. A comparative study on the greenhouse gas impact of manufacturing found that it takes up to 3X more energy, and up to 12X times more fossil fuels(!) to manufacture steel beams than it does to manufacture glulam beams. When looking at the carbon footprint of shipping, glulams are two-thirds the weight of steel and one-sixth the weight of concrete on a comparable load-carry capacity basis.
In addition, with glulam you can achieve the strength and aesthetics of heavy timber beams and maximize use of the resource, because the laminations of glulam are composed of standard-sized dimension lumber that is readily available from sustainable, renewable forests.
For more information on glulam beams, visit www.glulambeams.org.
