Sustainability at Bingaman
Bingaman & Son Lumber Company is certainly no different than any other commercial entity looking at revenues, expenses and of course the bottom line (profits). But beyond the numbers lies something far more significant than just a company successfully competing in a mature, commodity space. Bingaman is a business in which everyone who works there is regarded as family, sharing the same vision and values. One of these core values is deeply rooted in the notion that each Bingaman employee is charged with being a good environmental steward. That notion begins with ensuring that nearly every operational element of the business does no harm to the environment and is as sustainable as modern technology, practices and processes will allow.
Sustainability at Bingaman begins in the forest. As caretakers of the forest, Bingaman forestry teams are certified by the Pennsylvania Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and in their daily work follow proven best management practices. Today the US Forest Service confirms that twice as much volume is growing in Pennsylvania’s forests than is harvested, proving that modern forestry best practices are not only working, but are indeed sustainable. From the forest and into the factory, the company processes wood logs with the goal of maximizing yield and minimizing waste. Every part of the tree, right down to the stump, is used in some form, producing products from firewood and chips to veneer logs and saw logs.
Of course, production requires energy and Bingaman has been creating its own energy for many years. The company burns its own wood waste (e.g. – chips and sawdust), which is the energy that drives a high efficiency boiler that in-turn generates heat and steam for the entire Bingaman campus –heating buildings and kiln dryers, and providing steam for Bingaman’s unique thermal modification process.
Beyond creating energy from wood waste, Bingaman also harvests energy from the solar system’s most powerful energy source – the sun. In 2014 the company deployed a 187.88kWp solar array on the roofs of two buildings at its main facility in Kreamer, Pennsylvania. Today, solar energy contributes about 25% of the electricity needed to manufacture Bingaman’s Strips and Dimensions, as well as operate the Planer. Enough energy is produced by Bingaman that the company is not only a net-zero energy consumer, but now sells electricity back to the grid.
From best forestry practices to achieving net-zero energy consumption, sustainability is part of the Bingaman creed, it is the very essence of how Bingaman & Son Lumber operates, as not only good corporate citizens, but as a protector and facilitator of one of the environment ’s and one of our country ’s most critical resources - its forests.
