In 1894, a man named George Moncrieff built a fence in the Highlands of Scotland. George Moncrieff used local larch. George Moncrieff believed the larch would last forever. The larch was a natural material. The larch looked beautiful in the rain.

George Moncrieff died in 1912. By 1914, the fence had fallen into the mud. The larch had rotted at the ground line. The wood looked like soft sponge. The wood did not care about the intentions of George Moncrieff.

The wood followed the laws of biology. The wood returned to the earth. The children of George Moncrieff burned the fence for heat. They replaced the fence with iron. The iron did not rot.

The Price of Sentiment

Greta stands by a green dumpster. The dumpster sits on the curb of her driveway. Greta holds a piece of siding. The siding is cedar. The cedar has black spots. The black spots are mold. The mold is a living organism. The mold eats the wood.

Greta bought the cedar in 2018. The cedar cost six thousand four hundred and twelve dollars. Greta bought the cedar because she wanted a green home. Greta wanted a sustainable home. The salesperson told Greta that wood is natural. The salesperson told Greta that wood captures carbon. Greta felt good about the purchase. Greta felt like a guardian of the environment.

Now, the cedar is in the dumpster. Greta has removed 84 boards. Each board is eight feet long. Each board is heavy with water. The water has lived inside the wood for three months. The rain was constant last winter. The sun was hot last summer.

The Silent Warping

The sun hit the cedar. The cedar expanded. The rain hit the cedar. The cedar contracted. The cedar warped. The nails pulled out of the wall. The wall was no longer sealed. The moisture moved behind the boards. The rot started in the dark.

Greta did not see the rot for two years. Greta saw the rot when the paint began to peel. Greta throws a board into the dumpster. The board makes a loud sound. The sound is the sound of waste. Greta thinks about the forest. Greta thinks about the trees.

The trees grew for thirty years. The trees became boards. The boards lived on her house for six years. Now the boards will live in a landfill. The landfill is 22 miles away. A truck will come.

The truck will burn diesel. The truck will carry the cedar to a hole in the ground. The wood will rot in the hole. The wood will release methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. Greta realizes the math is wrong.

I explained the internet to my grandmother last week. My grandmother asked why people buy things that break. My grandmother grew up with a cast-iron stove. The stove worked for fifty years. I told my grandmother that people buy feelings. People buy the feeling of nature. They do not buy the reality of durability. My grandmother did not understand. My grandmother thinks a house should stay standing. I agree with my grandmother.

“If you have to replace the tires every week, you do not have a car; you have a problem.”

– Flora N., Driving Instructor

Biological Hostility

Greta has a problem. The problem is the belief that natural is always better. The belief is a mistake. Natural wood is a biological material. Biological materials are designed to decay. Nature wants the wood to vanish.

Nature uses fungi. Nature uses ultraviolet light. Nature uses insects. A termite can eat through a cedar board in 12 months. A termite does not care about the carbon footprint. A termite wants to eat. When we put wood on the exterior of a building, we are fighting nature. The fight is expensive. The fight requires chemicals.

Greta used a stain on the cedar. The stain contained oils. The stain contained pigments. The stain contained biocides. Biocides kill living things. Greta applied the stain every two years. She spent 19 hours on a ladder. She spent 430 dollars on the stain.

The stain did not stop the rot. The stain only hid the rot. The wood became a host for decay anyway. The chemicals in the stain are now in the dumpster with the wood. The chemicals will enter the soil. This is the hidden cost of the natural choice.

We talk about sustainability. We talk about the origin of the product. We rarely talk about the end of the product. A product that lasts five years is not sustainable. A product that lasts five years requires more energy. You must harvest more trees. You must process more lumber. You must ship more weight. You must pay more labor.

Greta paid four thousand dollars for the installation in 2018. Greta is paying five thousand two hundred dollars for the new installation today. The prices have gone up. The labor is scarce. The waste is high.

The Technical Shield

There is a better way to think about walls. The wall is a shield. The shield must resist the environment. The shield must resist the sun. The shield must resist the rain. Wood Polymer Composite is a technical solution.

The composite uses wood fibers. The composite uses recycled plastics. The plastic protects the wood. The plastic stops the water. The plastic reflects the UV rays. The composite does not rot. The composite does not warp. The composite does not need biocides.

Greta looks at the new material. She has chosen

Wall Coverings

for the replacement. The panels look like wood. The panels have a texture. The texture is warm. But the panels are not biological.

The panels are engineered. The panels will stay on the wall for twenty years. The panels will not go into the dumpster in 2030. The panels will not require stain. Greta will not spend 19 hours on a ladder. Greta will spend those hours in her garden.

The Math of Durability

The durability of the material is the true metric of the environment. If a material lasts four times longer, it has a smaller footprint. You divide the energy by the years. You divide the waste by the years.

A durable material reduces the demand for new resources. A durable material stops the cycle of the landfill. We have been taught to fear the word plastic. We have been taught to love the word wood. But the wood on Greta’s house was a lie. The wood promised a connection to nature. The wood delivered a pile of trash.

The dumpster is now full. The dumpster weighs 2,140 pounds. The weight is mostly water and rot. Greta watches the truck pull away. The truck is loud. The street is quiet after the truck leaves. Greta looks at her bare wall.

A Wall Built to Stay

The wall is made of plywood. The plywood is also wood. Greta must cover the plywood quickly. She cannot let the rain hit the plywood. She has 48 hours before the next storm. The new panels arrive tomorrow. They come in boxes. The boxes are tidy.

The installation of the composite panels is fast. The panels clip together. There are no gaps. There are no exposed nails. The system is closed. Greta watches the workers. The workers do not have to sand the boards. The workers do not have to paint the boards. The job takes 14 hours.

The wall looks different. The wall looks permanent. Greta touches the surface. The surface is hard. The surface is cool. Greta knows the surface will look the same in ten years.

I think about George Moncrieff. George Moncrieff did not have composite. George Moncrieff did not have a choice. We have a choice. We have the data. We know how moisture moves. We know how heat breaks down cellular structures. We can choose to stop the rip-and-replace cycle.

We can choose to be honest about the lifecycle. Greta goes inside. She makes tea. She looks out the window at her new wall. She does not feel the same rush of virtue she felt in 2018. She feels something else. She feels relief.

She knows she is done. She knows the wall is solved. The wall is no longer a ticking clock. The wall is a wall.

The dumpster stays full because the wood does not stay on the wall.

The math of the exterior is simple. The environment is a force. The force is constant. The force does not stop for our aesthetic preferences. If you put a soft material in the path of a hard force, the soft material will fail. Natural wood is soft. The sun is hard. The rain is hard.

The transition to engineered materials is a transition to reality. It is an admission that we want our homes to endure. We want our beauty to be stable. Greta is a realist now. She is a realist with a beautiful house. The house will stay beautiful. The house will stay out of the landfill. This is the only way to be green in a world that rots.