GreenTips

When selecting a composite sheet lining or flooring material such as MDF, particleboard or plywood, consideration needs to be given to the source of the wood fibre. Ideally this should be from an independently certified sustainable timber resource. FSC and PEFC certification systems are trustworthy certification systems. Information on timber selection and certification is available here.

The manufacture of MDF, particle board and chipboard can be considered resource efficient processes, as most of the timber use is sourced from scrap timber from other timber processing systems. However, because the timber comes from numerous waste sources, few manufacturers can confirm that 100% of the timber comes from certified sustainable sources. For this reason FSC has developed a process to establish the percentage of certified sustainably sourced timber in the product. More information is available on our timber pages.

Formaldehyde emitted from wood products is considered by many to be a significant health risk. Japanese building regulations have recently been revised to include limits for the emissions of formaldehyde. For this reason, most NZ manufacturers of the wood board products produce low or ultra low formaldehyde products for overseas markets with stricter environmental regulations. These products can be sourced in New Zealand if requested.

The use of plasterboard linings can result in considerable waste. To minimise waste, consider designing rooms to match typical plasterboard modules. In very large projects, consideration can also be given to purpose-sized runs of plasterboard can be ordered to minimise waste. Plasterboard is manufactured from natural gypsum. The crushed waste can be reused as a soil additive.

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