The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a new LEED pilot credit designed to increase transparency in timber supply chains and reduce the risk of illegally harvested wood entering the supply chain.
Development of the Timber Traceability LEED pilot credit was led by a team of timber legality, forestry, and environmental representatives from organizations recognized for leading the fight against illegal logging. Transparency regarding the origin of timber, combined with the use of modern wood identification technologies, can significantly reduce the risk of illegal timber entering the supply chain, according to a USGBC news release.
Drawing on successful anti-counterfeiting initiatives in fashion and the global honey trade, experts believe that DNA, mass spectrometry, and stable isotope analysis can help wood to be traced from end product to its forest origin. This will make it significantly more difficult to falsify documentation about where the timber was harvested.
“Many of the most destructive illegal logging operations around the world depend on masking the true identity and origin of the wood, and this initiative by USGBC tackles that problem directly by incentivizing the latest wood ID technologies,” said Alexander von Bismarck, executive director, Environmental Investigation Agency. “Implementing this credit can lay a foundation to ensure that green buildings don’t become unwitting hiding places for wood stolen from the last great forests of the world.”
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2011
New Law: California Building Standards Commission Must Include Green Expert
A new California law, AB 930, requires that one member of the California Building Standards Commission be “experienced and knowledgeable in sustainable building, design, construction, and operation.”
| Oct 13, 2011
AGC Urges Repeal of 3% Withholding On Government Contracts
The U.S. House of Representatives is planning a vote in October on a bill to repeal the 3% withholding requirement on all federal and state contracts for goods and services.
| Oct 13, 2011
House Bill Would Block New OSHA Regulations
Proposed riders in a U.S. House of Representatives spending bill would block the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from issuing controversial workplace safety and health regulations.
| Oct 11, 2011
AIA introduces five new documents for use on sustainable projects
These new documents will be available in the first quarter of 2012 as part of the new AIA Contract Documents service and AIA Documents on Demand.
| Oct 7, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: UL Environment releases industry-wide sustainability requirements for doors
ASSA ABLOY Trio-E door is the first to be certified to these sustainability requirements.
| Oct 6, 2011
Taking tenant behavior into account on building energy codes
Over the past few years, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, and Washington, D.C., have passed laws requiring property owners to measure and disclose their energy use, which would help place a market value on a building’s efficiency and provide a benchmark for improvements.
| Oct 6, 2011
Constructed properly, green roofs hold up well in a hurricane
The heavy rains and high winds of Hurricane Irene didn’t cause any problems for a Con Edison green roof in New York City. The roof contains sedum, a plant that adapts well to drought and handles periods of heavy rain well.
| Oct 6, 2011
RoofPoint: A new green standard for roofs
Structured much like other rating systems, RoofPoint, establishes green standards specifically for roofs.
| Oct 6, 2011
Roofers critical of new OSHA harness rules
Roofers say a new OSHA rule requiring all residential roofers to wear a safety harness makes workers less safe, and is causing lost business for those who comply with the rule.
| Oct 6, 2011
Florida county proposes saving on construction costs by trumping city regulations
This summer, Pinellas County, FL wanted to save money on an $81 million public safety complex in Largo by using the county’s own building regulations and permit fees, not the city’s more expensive fees.
