The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday unveiled a strategy to promote the use of domestic wood as a green building material. The move is part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to conserve and restore forests in order to create jobs, protect watersheds, and promote recreation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday unveiled a strategy to promote the use of domestic wood as a green building material. The move is part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to conserve and restore forests in order to create jobs, protect watersheds, and promote recreation.
With the new strategy, the U.S. Forest Service will:
- Preferentially select wood for new building projects while also maintaining its commitment to certified green building standards.
- Report to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack news ways to enhance green building material research and development.
- Demonstrate innovative uses of wood as a green building material for new structures of 10,000 square feet or more through using recognized green building standards such as LEED, Green Globes or the National Green Building Standard.
To carry out the initiative, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told his workers to use more locally milled timber in all new agency buildings. Vilsack told heads of other USDA agencies to do likewise.
"Our country has the resources, the work force and the innovative spirit to reintroduce wood products into all aspects of the next generation of buildings," Tidwell said.
The move by the USDA was welcomed by the Hardwood Federation (HF), a hardwood lobbying group of which NWFA is a member. According to an HF release, the hardwood industry has long complained that wood products are under-used in green building. "With the [Obama] administration and Congress in sync on wood as a green building material, we think we are in a strong position to grow our share of the green building market," said former HF Chairman Jamey French.
