Wood products are an important component of the mix of building products used in new nonresidential building construction. In 1995 an estimated 1,464.4 million board feet (bf) of dimension lumber, 55.3 million bf of glulam timber, 1,165.4million square feet (ft2), 3/8-in. basis, of structural panels, 12.9 million ft2, 3/8-in. basis of nonstructural panels, 58.5 million linear feet (lf) of wood I-joists, and 1.0 million cubic feet (ft3) of structural composite lumber (SCL) were used. These volumes include allowances for onsite waste and loss. Not included are the amounts of wood used for facilitation and millwork, for nonbuilding construction, and for farm structures. Comparisons made with a 1985 study indicate that wood products consumption was greater in 1985 when 2,780 million bf of dimension lumber and engineered wood, 2,094 million ft2, 3/8-in. basis, of structural panels, and 60 million ft2, 3/8-in. basis, of nonstructural panels were consumed (Table ES-1). Declining overall wood use between 1985 and 1995 was due, in part, to:

??A 37 percent overall reduction in the share of small buildings which tend to use more wood per square foot of floor area than large buildings in 1995,

??Lower constant dollar construction value per square foot of floor area in 1995 indicating a preference for lower cost buildings and building materials which may not favor wood,

??Changes in the mix of building types constructed favoring those which tend to use less wood per square foot of floor area,

??Increased use of concrete as the principal construction type at the expense of wood, and

??The introduction, and growing acceptance of engineered wood products which tends to reduce the amount of wood required to achieve the same level of performance.

These and other non-quantifiable factors make it difficult to accurately measure changes in market shares for wood products. The magnitude of change in wood products consumption does suggest that wood products have lost share to competing products over the past decade.

Overall, stores and office buildings used more wood products than other building types in 1995 (Table ES-1). Five building types: stores, offices, schools, religious and miscellaneous, reported SCL use in excess of 100,000 ft3 in 1995. Reported volumes of engineered wood products in 1995 may be under-estimated due to their relative "newness" and low incidence of use.

An additional 6,003 million bf of lumber and 5,970 million ft2 of structural panels could have been used in nonresidential buildings in 1995 if concrete and metal components in upper floors, walls (including exterior siding) and roofs were built with wood. Roofs represent the greatest single area for incremental volume potential for both lumber and structural panels.

Overall, new nonresidential building construction is an important market for wood products, but one which cannot be taken for granted. Nonwood building products are continually challenging wood in many nonresidential building applications as evidenced by reduced market shares for wood construction in 1995. Wood products must be competitive in order to maintain and increase their share of the nonresidential building market.

• market, trend, future
• PCA -- Principal component analysis
• wood frame houses and walls, wood structure
• wood, lumber, timber

1. Building codes obstacle or opportunity?
2. Engineered wood products: a response to the changing timber resource
3. Review of wood-based panel sector in United States and Canada