Engineered Wood Journal - Spring 2009 - (Page 15) 10,000 square feet —to meet or exceed guidelines set forth by a green building rating tool. The Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes® standard and the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED® tool are the most common rating systems named, though there are many other programs in existence. At the same time, an increasing amount of green building legislation is also being targeted toward the private sector, where governments are choosing either to incentivize or mandate energy efficiency and other aspects of building performance. Incentives, which have been the more popular choice so far, vary widely—from low-cost measures such as expedited permit processes and fee rebates for those who meet certain requirements, to more costly measures such as property tax refunds. However, some governments, such as the City of Washington, D.C., have also chosen to mandate green building within their jurisdictions, and recent history has shown an increasing willingness among legislators to legally require certain practices. materials. For example, both Green Globes and LEED award points for wood that is certified as having come from a sustainably managed forest, but Green Globes recognizes a number of credible systems—such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA)—while LEED recognizes only FSC. As your industry often points out, independent research has shown all of these systems to be effective. But, aside from that, an FSC-only approach creates an issue of supply, since the vast majority of forests in the United States are certified to other systems. Green Globes is also the only rating tool that currently incorporates life cycle assessment, or LCA, which is a method of scientifically analyzing building materials and assemblies over the course of their entire lives and assigning an unbiased score that reflects their true environmental impacts. As part of the recently completed process to establish Green Globes as the first American National Standard for commercial green MACT COMPLIANCE SOLUTIONS for Plywood and Composite Wood Products Green Building Legislation and the Wood Industry For the wood industry and other manufacturing sectors, the most significant potential impacts of green building legislation are not related to energy efficiency or other similar mandates, but the requirement to use certain green building rating systems and the specifics of what those systems entail. It is the position of the GBI, for example, that legislation should never mandate one rating system exclusively. In addition to the fact that multiple credible systems exist in this country—and, given that, the inappropriateness of a government body creating a monopoly—it is unreasonable to expect that one system can meet the needs of every design and building professional, type of building and budget. As in many other segments of the economy, competition among rating systems also drives the improvement of each and lowers costs, something we’ve already witnessed as Green Globes has gained increasing market acceptance alongside LEED. From a wood industry perspective, the issue is how different rating systems treat the various competitive building Engineered Wood Journal • Spring 2009 Press RCO + Higher Thermal Efficiency + Catalytic Operation = Low Operating Costs Dryer RTO + Plug-resistant Media Bed + Modular Design = 99% Uptime Turnkey Projects + Pilot Testing T + RTO/RCO Rebuilds + $2.2 Billion Parent Company + 50+ MEGTEC Service T Technicians + 365,000 ft² Manufacturing Facility = Tested and Proven T Solutions for the Long Term T Y You Deserve More With MEGTEC, you get more than just regulatory compliance. You’ll also Y get the process knowledge and experience that ensures your facility operates at maximum efficiency and productivity. For specific information about emission control solutions in the engineered wood products industry, visit www.megtec.com/ew MEGTEC Systems Industrial & Environmental Products 1-800-558-2884 www.megtec.com 15 http://www.megtec.com
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