Feasibility study on further utilization of timber in China

Abstract

The use of timber in building industry has expanded in many countries over last 20 years due mainly to its lightweight, little adverse impact to the environment, and strong anti-seismic properties. Despite the fast development of the construction industry in China in recent years, timber products utilization is still very limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility to further utilize timber based products in the building industry in China. A review of engineered wood products utilization in China, and oversees was conducted first. The general properties of timber products were followed. Based on this, a survey focusing on the current situation and suitability of localised grown timber products was carried out to study the feasibility. This paper concludes that timber based products have a great future in China. It recommends that it is imperative to further research how to promote timber’s utilization in China to be in line with the sustainable development.