WoodWorks Blog

Have you specified wood from a certified forest?

I don’t think it’s a leap to say that design and building professionals who choose wood for a project want to know their materials come from a sustainably managed forest. However, there seem to be two camps of people—those who recognize that forests in North America are sustainable and we don’t have the types of problems such as illegal logging that plague other parts of the world, and those who want the added assurance of third-party sustainable forest certification.

According to State of the World’s Forests Reports published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (1997-2007), North America has about as much forested land now as it did 100 years ago—though events such as the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in the west or a bad forest fire season have year-to-year impacts. Our forestry practices are among the world’s best and everyone recognizes that we all benefit if North American forests remain healthy and abundant in the future. North America also has more certified forest than anywhere else and the amount is growing.

Have you ever specified certified wood? If yes, was it certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council, CSA Sustainable Forest Management Standard or American Tree Farm System? Was the decision to use certified wood made because of the points available through LEED, Green Globes or another rating system?

Dwight Yochim, RPF, National Director