Measurement of Wood Composite Panels Forestry 280

General Approach… In the United States, wood-based panel production is typically reported on a square- foot basis, standardized to a given thickness of panel. Most other countries use a cubic volume measurement, typically cubic meters, m 3, or some multiple thereof, e.g., thousand cubic meters, m 3 x 10 3 or Mm 3.

U.S. Conventions: Structural Panels (construction plywood and OSB)  Production is conventionally reported as square feet of panel (sf), or some multiple, e.g., Msf (thousand square feet) or MMsf (million square feet) on a 3/8 inch thickness basis.

Non-Structural Panels (Particleboard, MDF, Insulation Board, Hardboard) Particleboard and MDF are conventionally reported as sf of panel (or multiple thereof) on a 3/4 inch thickness basis. Insulation board is measured as sf, 1/2 inch thickness basis. Hardboard is reported as sf, 1/8 inch thickness basis

Industry Production Stats Aggregate production figures (for industries as a whole) are often reported as billion sf, at given thickness basis (BSF, or sf x 10 9 ).

Conversion to various thickness bases or to cubic volume… See handout, “Nonveneer Panel Products: Particleboard, Hardboard….” from Briggs, 1994.