Green Building Terms

Plug and Touch Sanded - Process whereby plywood mills cut out defects and replace them with either a football shaped wood patch, or a synthetic putty filler, and then skip sand the surface.

Partially Air Driedⁱ - Lumber

Veneers which grains have been glued parallel to one another.

A term used to describe panel products made from particles of wood larger than fiber.

Price at Time of Shipment

Particleboardⁱ Coreⁱ

Poly Brominated Diphenyl Ethers

Polychlorinated biphenyl. Any of several organic compounds used in plastics manufacturing. Toxic and persistent environmental pollutants and tend to accumulate in animal tissues.

To produce veneer by revolving a peeler block against a knife.

Phenol Formaldehydeⁱ -an exterior gradeⁱ resinⁱ used as a replacement for urea formaldehydeⁱ.

A moisture resistant exterior gradeⁱ resinⁱ primarily used in softwood plywood and OSBⁱ. Phenols are popular because of their exterior grade bonds, but are slow to cure and generally "darken" panels, as these panels have to stay in the press longer in order to cure. When phenol formaldehydeⁱ cures in the manufacturing process, it becomes inert. That is too say there is no off gassing of any formaldehyde.

Round Timbers or Poles driven into the ground to support a load.

A machine to surface rough lumber.

FSCⁱ Certified, no added urea formaldehydeⁱ and recycled content

A panel made up of thin sheets of veneer which the grainⁱ direction is at right angles to each other.

Diphenylmethane Diisocyanate - Resinⁱ used to bind agriculture fiber into compositeⁱ panels - Contains no added Urea Formaldehydeⁱ

This term relates to material recovered after the end user. Recycled household materials such as newspaper, magazines, and cardboard are examples of post consumer recycled materials.

A material or product that has served its intended use and has been discarded for disposal through the hands of the end user.

Ponderosa Pine

This term relates to material recovered during the production process, before the product gets to the end user. Sawmills that produce sawdust and shavings for use in MDFⁱ or particleboardⁱ are an example.

Performance Rated Sheathingⁱ - Refers to OSBⁱ and Plywood. This gradeⁱ is designed to meet certain structural codes.

Plain Sliced - Veneer Term for the method of cutting the flitchⁱ from the log

Parallel Strand Lumber

Pressure Treated - usually refers to Preservative treated lumber or plywood (although it should be preservative treated since pressure treatment is a process not an end result)

A soft, moist mass of wood fiber used in the manufacture of paper.

Panel Source Brand name for all panels and lumber that are untreated.

Poly vinyl acetate (or "white glue" as it is more commonly know as) is used for interior work, and is common in the production of hardwood plywood. PVAⁱ is commonly used now to replace UFⁱ resins when a UF Free product is required. Somewhat harder to use than UF.

Panel Source brand name for fire retardant products.