Southern Community Wood Utilization Group
We are a group of professionals dedicated to full-circle management of community trees in the South
GIVE A TREE A SECOND LIFE:
Connect with us and join the Southern Community Wood Utilization Group today!
Urban and community wood utilization expands the potential benefits of every tree by using wood materials from urban trees that would otherwise be discarded. This is an important part of the full-circle management process.
The Southern Community Wood Utilization Group brings together municipalities, universities, arborists, sawmills, suppliers, manufacturers, architects and makers in the southern United States to expand our ability to reduce otherwise-wasted wood resources and maximize the benefits of every tree.
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Benefits of Urban Wood Utilization
According to the EPA, wood materials, especially from urban forests, are the largest contributor of municipal waste.
Urban and community forests provide a multitude of environmental and cultural benefits, including heat reduction, improved air quality, ecosystem support and carbon capture.
Urban and Community Wood Utilization makes use of every tree’s potential, including continuing the carbon capture process, even beyond the tree’s natural life cycle.
Urban and community wood utilization involves a process with three distinct stages and stakeholders:
Material Processing
1. Wood Suppliers
Wood suppliers are urban forest managers or professionals who remove or contract the removal of community trees (both public and private). Suppliers of community wood resources benefit from reduced transportation and disposal costs.
Material Processing
2. Primary Producers
Primary producers consist of sawyers and millers who use the trees provided by the wood suppliers to create beams, planks, chips and other usable lumber products. Primary producers benefit from a lower cost for raw materials and transportation.
Material Processing
3. Secondary Producers
Secondary producers consist of builders, furniture makers, artists, wood makers and others who create valuable end products and constructions from materials provided by primary producers.
Reinvesting in communities through Urban Wood Utilization
Products made from urban and community trees result in increased monetary and cultural value, which is reinvested into the community.
Urban trees can provide materials to produce final products like furniture and art, materials for construction, mulch for local playgrounds and gardens, biomass and biochar used to produce renewable energy, and so much more. Urban and community wood utilization helps stimulate the economy and provides benefits to the community by lowering the cost of tree removal, providing beneficial wood products back to the community and creating jobs.
According to a recent study, the potential annual value from urban wood waste in the United States ranges between $89-786 million. States with the greatest urban wood product potential are Florida (up to $57.6 million per year) and Georgia (up to $52.7 million per year).
