Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/901018
Yes, cradling his creation like a newborn baby, he holds a beautiful board beaming with symbolic light. But it is so much more than that. This wood is going to revolutionize the world. ORIGIN STORY The year is 2000. A new century cries out in its infancy. Our economy was booming and once-barren land was giving rise to towering buildings and residential developments all across the country. Toxic chemicals were on the rise, too, as manufacturers, in their rush to create engineered wood to fi ll the demand for more and more home building materials, began using harsh chemicals not yet fully proven to be safe. Around this time, in the eff ort to stop the nation's dependency on slow-growing hardwood for building materials. Dr. Yin Wang, an esteemed chemist from Bellingham via Mississippi by way of Asia, was tasked with modifying fast-growing soft wood to transform into solid, functional hardwood. He succeeded, and while proud of his success, Dr. Wang, father of three, was bothered by his and other companies' use of toxic chemicals to achieve the benefi cial functions of the wood. Concerned about what they might be emitting into the homes where future generations were being raised, he set out to see if he could produce the same benefi cial functions using only natural ingredients. After years of blood, sweat, tears, and no sleep, the strong, sustainable and safe Belling-Wood was born in Wang's garage, named after the city where it was conceived and given life. GOT CHEMISTRY? So how does it work? Put on your goggles and white lab coats and listen up. Belling-Wood is made with fast-growing pine wood or parawood (rubber tree wood) that has been impregnated at the molecular level with organic, cellulose-based, food-grade biopolymers, like those widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and other industries. By replacing air and moisture pockets within the wood with these biopolymers, the product becomes exceptionally stronger and incredibly resistant to common wood foes like fi re, water, insects, bacteria, and mold. Pine wood is considered a renewable resource due to its fast growth cycle. Parawood was previously a bad building material because its high sugar content attracted bugs. Now, instead of burning or burying used rubber trees, they are made new again, this time as a high-functioning building material. And what's better, the product is eco-friendly and 100 percent natural. Oh; and Belling-Wood is born with ultra-adaptive functionality and rich color coursing through its entire body, making it ready for any application. And it's versatile. Whew, is it versatile. Able to take on forms of other woods—woods that would typically take a century or more to grow. Belling-Wood pine is ready in just 10 years. Belling-Wood is exceptional in its ability to perfectly mimic hard wood in looks and functionality, when in fact it is made from fast-growing pine wood. And since the wood's colors come from natural sources embedded into its body, Belling-Wood's color will not wear; which means you never have to restain or worry about matching future color schemes. Before/after. Even making Belling-Wood emits zero carbon dioxide. The process consists solely of water to infuse biopolymers and patented solar kiln energy to dry. 24 master builder WINTER 2017