Conservation, Industry Groups Applaud USDA for Green Building Leadership
Wood products are good for jobs, particularly in rural economies, and strong markets for wood products help keep working forests as forests.
Secretary Tom Vilsack and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently developed a new green building strategy to promote wood products as an environmentally preferable building material.
AFF, along with 40 conservation, landowner and industry partners, want to thank USDA for its continuing leadership on this issue by becoming a cheerleader for wood products.
In November, AFF spearheaded the creation of a coalition letter, aimed at bringing the forest products issue to the attention of the USDA. Conservation organizations as well as industry groups support this issue, and it is essential that the USDA continue to promote initiatives that protect existing forestland.
Unfortunately, other federal agencies have green building policies that discourage the use of wood products in building construction.
For example, the General Services Administration has a policy that requires new buildings to be constructed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System, which fails to recognize many of the environmental benefits of building with wood products.
We hope USDA will continue their leadership role and work with other agencies to remove policy barriers for wood products and increasing incentives for builders to use wood.
“Secretary Vilsack should be commended for setting a bold new direction for green building policy that directs the agency to look to wood as the preferred green building material for meeting LEED and Green Globe standards,” AFF President and CEO Tom Martin said in a March 2011 statement, applauding Secretary Vilsack’s leadership.
In addition to the direct climate benefits of using wood products, strong markets for wood products provide landowners with income to invest in better land management, reducing the possibility of carbon emissions from wildfires, and insect and disease outbreaks. These markets also help reduce forest conversion to non-forest uses, another source of carbon emissions.
“This [announcement] is good for wood. Good for jobs. Good for communities,” Martin said.
America’s private forests provide benefits to all Americans in the form of clean air and water, wildlife habitat, recreation, and wood products.
Strong markets for wood products, stimulated by green building strategies such as that of the USDA, will help protect America’s treasure landscapes.
Read the full coalition letter here [PDF]: https://filemanager.capwiz.com/filemanager/file-mgr/forestfoundation/2_FINAL_USDA_Thank_you_letter__Green_Building_and_Climate_change.pdf.
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