Lumber Certification Groups Battle for Recognition
May 21, 2010What do lingerie and groceries have to do with certified lumber? Take a look at the back of the latest Victoria’s Secret catalog or on the bottom of a paper bag from Safeway or Lucky’s, and you’ll see brand logos from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), respectively.
By Chris Wood
The competing lumber certification bodies – which certify working forest acreage, as well as the paper, pulp, fiber, and solid lumber goods derived from such forests – have always had a contentious relationship. But things are heating up in a brand battle that also includes certification standards under the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). (more…)
The Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009
May 21, 2010Builder, in conjunction with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, debuts its metric for determining markets with the best and least potential.
By Boyce Thompson
With most economists and builders expecting a national market decline this year, this may not seem like the best time to be selecting the “healthiest” markets in the country. Virtually every market was down last year. But a close look at the numbers reveals that some markets have way outperformed others during the last four years and are likely to continue to do so this year. (more…)
Green Building Product Sales to Surpass $80 Billion in 2013
May 21, 2010Report from The Freedonia Group projects rapid growth in demand for FSC-certified wood panels and other green building categories.
By Katy Tomasulo
A report released by research firm The Freedonia Group estimates the U.S. market for green building materials will exceed $80 billion by 2013, with a predicted 7.2% annual increase from $57 billion in 2008. Much of the growth, however, will be driven primarily by the overall recovery of the residential market, according to a statement. (more…)
Future of Wood: Long Shadows
May 21, 2010In many ways, the future of wood will be shaped substantively not by what we do, but what our forefathers did decades ago.
By Craig Webb
Not long ago, I visited a sawmill just west of the Continental Divide that’s making a business out of our ancestors’ mistakes. Intermountain Resources’ operation in Montrose, Colo., expects this year to saw 40 million board-feet of lumber largely from lodgepole pines that are growing – dying, actually – on federal land. Those pines’ story is largely the story of wood in America for the past 120 years. (more…)
USGBC Exec: Expansion of Wood Standard Unlikely Before December
May 21, 2010By Craig Webb
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) hopes to finish work by year-end on a proposal to allow wood certified by groups other than the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to qualify for points under USGBC’s LEED program for green construction, a vice president of the council told lumber dealers and distributors recently. That’s at least half a year longer than some observers had expected the group would need to resolve this long-simmering issue. (more…)
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