Congressional Pressure Mounts on Green Building Wood Issue
When compared to other materials, such as steel and concrete, using wood in construction results in significantly lower emissions (by 70-88%), reduced energy use, and less air and water pollution. Therefore, green building opportunities have the potential to support American forestry jobs. However, the LEED system currently hinders American forest industry access by placing strict certification requirements on wood products.
Recently, Senator Baucus (D-MT) and Senator Vitter (R-LA) sent a letter to the USDA Forest Service outlining their concerns for LEED-focused policies and the negative impact these policies have on their state forestry industries. If a builder does decide to use wood products, they can get a “certified wood credit” for using wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) but not for wood from American Tree Farm System (ATFS) or Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified forests. ATFS and SFI together include more than 82 million acres throughout the United States. In Montana there are nearly 200,000 acres of ATFS certified land while Louisiana is host to 1.6 million Tree Farm acres. These family forest owners are currently denied access to green building markets despite their dedication to responsible forest management practices.
The Senators emphasize the importance of using sustainable, American-grown wood in environmentally conscious building design and urge government agencies to adopt policies that don’t place the American forest industry at an unnecessary disadvantage. Many rural communities rely on forest-related industries for their jobs and livelihood. Healthy forests need healthy markets. Broadening green building policies to incorporate American certified wood systems will incentivize family forests owners to keep their forests as forests and will allow these family forest owners to benefit from additional income generation through expanding green building markets.
