Engineered wood
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Engineered wood includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding together wood strands, fibers, or veneers with adhesives to form composite materials. These products are engineered to precise design specifications which are tested to meet national or international standards.
Engineered wood products include plywood, masonite, medium density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), particleboard, glued laminated timber (glulam), laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and structural I-beams. Engineered wood panels are also made from rye straw, wheat straw, or sugar cane rind, in which case they contain no actual wood.
Engineered wood products are used in a variety of applications, often replacing solid wood (lumber) due to a number of advantages. Because engineered wood is man-made, it can be designed to meet application-specific performance requirements. Unlike solid wood, large panels of engineered wood may be constructed from small trees. Further, engineered wood products are often stronger and less prone to humidity-induced warping. Although engineered wood products are resource efficient, they are more expensive to produce than solid lumber in terms of time, money, and energy.