by Shane Henson — November 18, 2011—Building owners and facilities managers involved in the construction or renovation of buildings can now use an online Cost Comparison Calculator offered through WoodWorks, a cooperative venture of major North American wood associations, to determine whether wood will be a better option than other construction materials.
Developed in partnership with RSMeans, the tool allows users to select a building type and location (state and/or city), then draws on data that is updated quarterly to provide a current cost comparison.
For example, according to WoodWorks, the calculator shows that using wood to construct the shell of an average one-story school in the United States saves 21% in construction costs as compared to an aggregate of other materials, while overall costs are 3% less.
Using the calculator involves two steps:
- Select the building type, state, city or metro area, and desired graph type.
- View the results presented over three tabs showing construction costs (including cost index over time and cost deviation over time), assembly costs and breakdown of assembly costs.
Those who want a more detailed analysis can visit RSMeans for additional costing tools.
In addition to the cost calculator, WoodWorks will soon release a carbon calculator that estimates the carbon benefits of wood buildings. This includes the amount of carbon stored in the wood products (which was absorbed by the tree during its growing cycle) and greenhouse gas emissions avoided by not using steel and concrete.
