At LA Lumber, sustainability isn't just a marketing buzzword — it's measurable. Our Sustainability Director Mei-Lin Tao spent three months calculating the actual carbon footprint of our reclaimed lumber operations compared to the equivalent in new lumber.
The analysis considered every stage: for new lumber, that includes forest harvesting, log transportation, mill processing, kiln drying, wholesale distribution, and retail delivery. For reclaimed lumber, it includes deconstruction, transportation to our facility, denailing, milling, and customer delivery.
The results: our reclaimed lumber produces an average of 1.2 kg of CO2 equivalent per board foot, while new lumber from Pacific Northwest sources averages 5.8 kg CO2e per board foot. That's nearly an 80% reduction in carbon emissions.
The biggest single factor is avoided logging and log transport. Getting trees out of forests and to mills involves heavy machinery, long truck hauls, and energy-intensive mill operations. Our raw material arrives on trucks that are already running for demolition work.
Kiln drying is the second major factor. New lumber mills use massive kilns running on natural gas or biomass. We air-dry most of our reclaimed lumber and only kiln-dry when necessary for specific applications, using a small solar-assisted kiln on our property.
In 2024, LA Lumber processed approximately 180,000 board feet of reclaimed lumber. Based on our calculations, that represents a carbon savings of roughly 828,000 kg of CO2 equivalent — the same as taking 180 cars off the road for a year.
We've published our full methodology and data on our sustainability page. We believe transparency in environmental claims is essential, and we welcome scrutiny of our numbers.