It is not surprising to learn that the United States imports a large portion of the wood that we use for construction. Currently, much of this wood is being imported from South America; specifically, we use timber that is removed from the South American rain forests. Unfortunately, the rate at which we consume these resources may prove detrimental to the environment and, eventually, to the industries that utilize this imported timber.
It is estimated that rain forests once covered approximately 1.5 billion hectares of land. They currently cover only 900 million hectares. That puts rain forests? current rate of deforestation at about 1.8 percent per year. At that rate, within 55 years, tropical rain forests will be completely consumed. The US consumption of tropical timber does not account for the majority of logged timber or a large portion of deforestation; we account for approximately 4 percent of consumed timber each year.
However, this rate of consumption is a growing concern to environmentalists in the United States. Several organizations are hoping to convince the government to ban the use of imported tropical hardwoods for construction, hardwood floors, and furniture. While these organizations have yet to garner a government ban, they are calling on their customers to boycott the use of these tropical hardwoods when they set out to build or furnish their homes. Other organizations, also concerned with the consumption of rain forest timber, feel that a ban on the use of imported tropical hardwood will be ineffective and detrimental to the construction industry without some incentive to seek out alternative materials.
Consumers are becoming more aware of tropical deforestation issues. Though it is not official, many customers are opting not to use imported South American hardwoods because of these environmental concerns. The companies using these woods should be aware of this mentality, and begin offering alternatives to potential clients.
Recently, I was having a conversation with my father about the research that I was doing about green building. In the next five years, I will very likely be involved in the planning stages and construction process of my home, and I want to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to make it as earth-friendly, energy efficient, and beautiful as possible.
As there is a large hillside on the property, it makes sense that his suggestion would be to build a hobbit house. Well, I guess that really makes sense if you know my father, but anyway, hobbit houses. He agreed that a large round door would, in fact, be a little over the top, but that it was also quite possible. At first I thought that he was just joking, but when he went on to mention details about rooftop gardens, natural earth insulation, and so on, I began to realize that he had actually thought it through.
Building into the earth really would be great....if it wasn't a north facing slope. The constant darkness would really be an issue as well as the potential issue of dampness. So, a hobbit house won't be among the finalists for plans, but that doesn't mean that somewhere out there, there isn't a south facing slope just waiting to be dug into. If your south face was all windows, you might not mind that your north side didn't have any....
Then again, there are plenty of other great green building techniques, including earth berm building (like a hobbit house, but without the hill...and with windows on each side of the house) that can make for wonderful, beautiful houses that save energy and resources in both the building process and in residential life within them.
General contractors are usually the higher-ups in the construction world and are called upon to finish works suggested by the government or community. These could include building houses, skyscrapers, bridges, and even roadways. These projects happen at different hours so depending on when the best time of day is for you to work, there is a construction project that could work for you.
Specialty trade contractors are usually hired by the general contractors, property owners, or architects to dependably finish the work, but their projects are for different things. These specialty trade contractors are authorities on one specific kind of labor such as carpentry, painting, or electrical work. Since they're hired on by the contractors, the time limit is different, also allowing for a variety of hours. Their employees have opportunities for repair work, where they can be called upon by direct order by the architects, tenants and landlords, as well as rental agents to fix anything gone awry in a building.
In 2006, construction was one of the nation's largest industries. It allows for the most job growth and consistent work. Specialty trades, masonry, and electrical trades held around 64% of the wage and salary jobs for the construction industry. One-forth of construction jobs were for residential and nonresidential work, with the rest relying on civil engineering construction and the like.