American Forest Foundation Blog

Put Wood in a Green Building? Two Champions Say So.

Two champions stepped up to the plate this month and went to bat for America’s family-owned forests. 

One of the biggest issues threatening our forests is the decline in markets for wood products.  Markets give families the resources needed to keep their forests healthy and intact.  While green building should offer market opportunities for family-owned forests, many green building policies at the federal, state, and local level discriminate against the use of wood in green buildings in favor of other materials.

In the Defense Authorization bill, Senator Roger Wicker (MS) introduced an amendment to require the Department of Defense to change their green building policy and give wood a level playing field in DOD buildings.  Senator Wicker thinks DOD should use green building rating systems that are based on science, incorporating life-cycle assessment. 

We couldn’t agree more—green building rating systems that include the science of life-cycle assessment evaluate building materials based on the material’s actual impact on the environment.  A recent U.S. Forest Service study showed that using wood in building yields fewer greenhouse gases than using other common materials. 

Senator Wicker’s amendment also directed DOD to use green building rating systems that were created using a consensus-based process accredited to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).  ANSI requires openness, balance of interest, due process, and consensus—making sure that one group does not dominate the process to the detriment of others.

Using a green building rating system that is ANSI accredited would give the DOD assurance that they are using a system that doesn’t unfairly disadvantage specific building materials, like wood.

While Senator Wicker’s amendment did not make it into the final Defense Authorization bill, Congress did require DOD to take a closer examination at the cost-effectiveness of their green building policy.

While this is a step in the right direction, Congress could have done more.  With strong champions like Senator Wicker, we hope to change the conversation about wood and green building one step at a time.

Last week in Maine, Governor Paul LePage issued an executive order recognizing the benefits of using certified sustainable wood in green buildings, including wood certified to the American Tree Farm System® standards.  We appreciate Governor LePage’s recognition and his work to further the message that wood is truly a green building material and that by using wood, we keep forests as forests.