GreenClips.230 12.17.03 HAPPY HOLIDAYS... Time for a break! Look for GreenClips.231 after 12.31.03. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HOME DEPOT TO GET MORE FSC LUMBER; STUDY SHOWS CONSUMER INTEREST Home Depot and Tembec, a large Canadian forest products company, have reached an agreement that will supply Home Depot with more lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Under a wood purchasing policy adopted in 1999, Home Depot gives preferential treatment to vendors that offer certified wood products. "Today, over 25 percent of Tembec's Canadian forest operations are FSC certified," said Jim Lopez, president of Tembec Forest Products Group. "By 2005, we intend to obtain certification for all 32 million acres of Canadian forest under our management." Last year, Oregon State University professors conducted a study at two Home Depot stores to measure consumer purchasing behavior with respect to ecolabeled forest products. Customers were offered a choice between virtually identical FSC-labeled and non-ecolabeled plywood to determine if an ecolabel correlates to higher sales. When the price of the plywood was equal, the FSC product outsold the non-ecolabeled plywood 2 to 1. When the FSC plywood cost 2 percent more, the non-ecolabeled product outsold the FSC plywood by 1.7 to 1. Thirty-seven percent of sales were to consumers who paid a 2 percent price premium. With a commodity product like plywood, price is the most important consideration. Results would likely vary for other products. Home Depot announcement: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3 Dec 2003, by Tony Wilbert. Ecolabel study: FSC newsletter, Dec 2003, p 2. [Home Depot's wood purchasing policy: http://www.homedepot.com/HDUS/EN_US/corporate/corp_respon/wood_purchasing_policy.shtml . Ecolabel study: http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/fp/faculty/Anderson/roy.research.htm ] FOUNDATION GIVES GRANTS TO HELP NONPROFITS BUILD GREEN The Kresge Foundation wants nonprofits to consider green building practices the next time they embark on a capital project -- and is helping them pay for it. The 79-year-old foundation is making available special planning grants of $50,000 to $100,000, as well as bonus grants of $150,000 to $250,000 to grantees whose buildings become LEED certified. The $2.3 billion foundation developed two brochures for nonprofits: "Why Build Green?" and "How Do I Build Green?"; they can be downloaded from http://www.kresge.org/initiatives/index.htm The Green Business Letter, Dec 2003, p 4. BAMBOO DESERVES MORE RESPECT As a building material, bamboo hasn't yet received the mainstream recognition it deserves. Worldwide, a billion people live in bamboo houses. For the most part, however, these are low-grade, impermanent buildings occupied by the rural poor; these structures do little to promote bamboo's image as a viable construction material. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on the planet; most species produce mature fiber in about three years, much more rapidly than any tree species. It is susceptible to attack by insects and fungi, and its service life may be as low as one year when in ground contact. However, bamboo's durability can be greatly enhanced by appropriate specification and design and by careful use of safe preservatives such as boron. The main structural advantages of bamboo -- its strength and light weight -- mean that properly constructed bamboo buildings are inherently resistant to wind and earthquakes. Bamboo construction products range from bamboo mat boards (flat and corrugated) to more sophisticated panels products such as fiberboard, "plyboo" and flooring, to the large laminated sections now under development for use in external joinery. Lack of guidance on using bamboo in buildings has been a major obstacle to its wider adoption. Draft international standards ISO 22156 and 22157 have been developed that represent first steps toward addressing this problem. UNEP Industry and Environment, Apr-Sept 2003, p 64, by Lionel Jayanetti and Paul Follet. STRATEGIES FOR SIMPLIFYING LEED DOCUMENTATION The learning curve is steep for a project team's first attempt at LEED certification. The following simple guidelines should help first-time LEED-ers flatten that curve: 1) Provide no more documentation than is required. 2) Whenever possible, provide less than stated requirements. Do not provide everything you possibly can when you can demonstrate proof of compliance with less. 3) Whenever possible, use the templates and other tools provided by the USGBC; do not create custom templates and calculators. 4) Submit as many innovation in design (ID) points as possible. Although a maximum of four are awarded for any given project, you may increase your chances of receiving all four points if you submit additional ID points. 5) Look to other LEED rating systems (Commercial Interiors, Shell and Core, Existing Buildings) for potential ID points. Each LEED rating system contains unique credits and prerequisites that might match up with something in your project, such as the Green Housekeeping credit in LEED for Existing Buildings. 6) Be quick and dirty: it isn't necessary to spend a lot of time making the LEED application beautiful. The Construction Specifier, Nov 2003, p 28, by Christopher Dixon. BUILDINGGREEN UPGRADES ITS ONLINE RESOURCES BuildingGreen, publisher of the "GreenSpec Product Directory" and "Environmental Building News" (EBN), has retooled its electronic resources to make them more comprehensive and user-friendly. Its new web-based subscription service includes access to GreenSpec, more than twelve years of EBN archives, and a database of more than 60 case studies. Users can search the entire site for content by CSI section, LEED credit, topic, location and other criteria. Architectural Record, Dec 2003, p 157. More: http://www.buildinggreen.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: BUILDINGGREEN, INC. Build Your Expertise with BuildingGreen Suite, a revolutionary green building tool from the people who bring you Environmental Building News. Clear, powerful information presented online - at your fingertips. 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