WOOD AND THE GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT

From both environmental and economic perspectives, State Foresters believe it is important that wood products, and particularly products derived from U.S. forests, play a substantial role in the U.S. green building movement. NASF passed a resolution in 2008 recognizing the value of wood from certified, sustainably managed U.S. forests as a green building material.

Green Building Standards

State Foresters recognize the value of multiple green building standards that respond to the needs of diverse segments of the building industry, including standards currently recognized by the marketplace and other credible systems that may emerge in the future. Competition among forestland certification systems benefits consumers, wood suppliers, and the forests themselves.
The standards of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) are each accepted by a significant segment of the U.S. wood market as providing credible evidence that wood certified through the program comes from responsibly managed forests.

Green building standards should recognize:

• the value of wood as an environmentally friendly building material produced from a renewable resource
• the value of domestically grown wood
• the value of U.S. wood that is certified by a credible forestland certification standard as having been grown in a sustainable manner.

USDA Green Building Policy

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack approved a new green building strategy in 2011 and committed to promote wood products as an environmentally preferable building material. USDA's strategy will direct the U.S. Forest Service to preferentially select wood in new building construction while maintaining its commitment to certified green building standards. The Secretary has also asked the U.S. Forest Service to examine ways to increase its commitment to green building by identifying ways to enhance the research and development being done around green building materials. Finally, the Forest Service will actively look for opportunities to demonstrate the innovative use of wood as a green building material for all new structures of 10,000 square feet or more using recognized green building standards.

USDA should continue to play a leadership role within and among the federal agencies on this issue and demonstrate to Capitol Hill the environmental and economic benefits wood products bring to the country and specifically jobs to rural communities, and stimulate appropriate research and technology transfer to improve the full life-cycle of the products. NASF and its partners in the Working Forests Coalition have urged USDA to adopt a green building policy favoring wood as a key approach to forest conservation.

Other Resources

State Foresters Praise New USDA Green Building Strategy

NASF and partners urge USDA leadership on wood products in green building

NASF letter to U.S. Green Building Council