By Rusen Kumar
British Columbia (B.C.), Canada is recognized as a global leader in sustainable forest management, meeting the environmental, social and economic needs of current and future generations. B.C. is a trusted source for wood products obtained from sustainably managed forests that are certified to one of the two independent, non-profit global programs, which endorse forest certification programs developed nationally and regionally in countries around the world. In an interview with Rusen Kumar, Editor of India CSR; Pranesh Chhibber – Country Director of Canadian Wood (a crown agency of the government of British Columbia) spoke about sustainable forest management and certification of wood, besides stating the importance of designing green buildings and the advantages of living in sustainable structures built with wood. Excerpts:
What does sustainable forest management mean?
There are few places on earth that can match the diversity and richness of Canada’s forests. Forests are an important part of Canada’s natural ecosystem and central to its economy, making up just under half of its landscape with eight major forest regions and a vast diversity of wood species. From planting a seedling to manufacturing lumber the forest sector in British Columbia and Canada is an inter-connected industry of forest management and wood processing. This includes planting, tree harvesting with modern, high-tech machinery and sophisticated wood product manufacturing. The entire cycle is planned around responsible resource management. Canada is a global leader in sustainable forest management. Forestry practices in B.C. Canada ensures that environmental, social, and economic needs are met for current and future generations, and this is what sets us apart from other supply regions globally. By law, less than one percent of the forests are harvested annually with three trees planted for every single tree harvested. This commitment to forest regeneration results in two hundred million new seedlings planted every year ensuring replenished forests for the future.
Simply put, sustainable forest management means to set up systems and practices in place to prevent deforestation in order to protect our environmental and social values of wildlife, water, community, and economic interests, despite organised commercial harvesting of trees.
What is certified wood? What certification does Canadian Wood have?
Certified wood is the one, where the wood used has been verified as harvested in a sustainable way, including the impact of harvesting on the surrounding environment in terms of protecting the biodiversity of an area, erosion control and preserving water resources. Chain of Custody certification tracks the certified material through the production process – from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. It also provides evidence that certified material in a certified product originates from certified forests.
Canadian Wood suppliers provide certified products under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These strict international certification standards add additional assurance of the global protection of forest resources and make Canada a reliable and sustainable provider of wood from its forests – it is worth noting here that while Canada is home to around 10% of the world’s total forest cover, it boasts 36% of the world’s independent, third-party audited and certified forests – making it a global leader in forest certification and a respected source for ethical and sustainable sourcing of forest products.
What is the importance of designing green buildings? If a developer uses Canadian wood in his project, how many green rating points will it be eligible for?
Importance of green buildings have been defined by many in many ways i.e. Green Building promotes the efficiency of buildings with regards to the use of water, energy and materials while reducing the building’s impact on the environment and the individual’s health through better design, construction, operation, maintenance and so on. Green design or as it is also called green architecture or eco-friendly design, minimizes the negative impact of building materials and construction on the environment. It offers a powerful alternative to conventional building that uses fewer precious national resources and increases human health and happiness.
As regards the 2nd part of your question, my comment is that using certified wood (PEFC or FSC) from sustainably managed forests of B.C. Canada will certainly add value to any green building project, however, green rating programs such as LEED, ICBC, GRIHA, etc. have their own parameters to award points depending on the project scope and other considerations, hence one needs to consult a green rating expert on a specific project for definitive figures.
Why is wood recommended as a preferred building material?
No other building material showcases the beauty of nature, radiates warmth and adds value like wood. Wood from sustainably managed forests is renewable, environment-friendly and ideal for designing and building, wood is also a highly durable and environmentally friendly material. Wood is a completely renewable resource, grown by nature that can last for generations. It improves indoor air quality and acoustic performance of space and has better seismic performance compared to other conventional materials. Wood is highly versatile, enabling users to maintain traditional looks or create modern sleek designs. Wood mitigates the effects of climate change by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in its cells for life.
Life cycle analysis and scientific studies have shown that using a renewable resource such as wood from a sustainable source helps the environment over a long period when compared to other materials, and also when compared to wood that is not sourced from sustainably managed forests.
What is the Life-cycle assessment of wood?
The goal of green design is to achieve sustainability by designing and building structures that use less energy, water and materials, and minimize any adverse impact on human health and the environment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) supports this by providing an assessment of the resource consumption — including energy, emissions and waste — throughout the building’s life. It means adding up the inputs and outputs for every framing member, panel, fastener, finish material, coating and other materials used in the building. LCA is accepted around the world and is a powerful tool for illustrating the full life-long environmental impacts of choosing one building material over another. It is incorporated into many green building rating systems. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is also defined as a tool designed to quantify and evaluate a broad scope of environmental impacts from the selected life cycle of a given product. Life Cycle Assessment is one of the significant ways for the wood industry to promote the environment-friendly property of wood with scientific evidence. The life cycle process traces wood through its various stages: from tree planting, growth and harvesting to timber processing and treatment to finished product and, finally, to recycled product.
How can we tackle climate change by maximizing the use of wood in construction?
Studies have shown that wood performs better than concrete and steel when it comes to air and water pollution. Wood’s advantages are recognized by green building rating systems— including certified wood, recycled/reused materials, local sourcing of materials, waste minimization, indoor air quality and life cycle impacts. Using wood products for as long as possible is a way to trap carbon in the HWPs in use and delay carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
While it is fairly well known that wood products sequester carbon and typically require less energy to manufacture than other building materials, their performance related to operational energy efficiency is often overlooked, sequestered carbon in used wood products, in effect, contributes to greenhouse gas reduction. It is known that wood not only removes more CO2 from the atmosphere than it adds through manufacture but also by replacing carbon-intensive materials such as concrete or steel, it contribution many times over to the lowering of CO2.
What are the human health advantages of living in sustainable structures built with wood?
Many experts cited several health benefits of living in sustainable structures built with wood. Some of which include, improved emotional state, and self-expression, improved air quality by moderating humidity, encouraging easier breathing. Additionally, people could relish the feelings of warmth and comfort. It is beneficial in terms of maintaining lower blood pressure, heart rate, and stress levels. Also, being an effective insulator helps keep cold out in winters and heat in summers.
What is your take on the sustainable softwood market in India?
India being a wood fibre deficit nation has to depend on imported wood to meet its needs, about 7 Mn. Cft. of wood is imported into India annually. The softwood market in India has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade, since almost all of it is imported, today it accounts for over 50% of total wood imported. Softwood is easier to work with, which results in less worker fatigue and better productivity, longer tool and machinery life and because of lighter weight, it fairs better logistically too. Softwoods mainly come from sustainably managed forests that are mostly certified and legally harvested, thus the architects, designers, developers and manufacturers prefer to use them in their projects to address increasing concerns about global warming and climate change. Another major contributor to the growth of softwoods use in India has been its availability as a duly graded and consistently sized lumber which the factories prefer over locally sawn hardwoods to avoid sorting of timber upon arrival in their yards, thus saving on costly material, labour and time wastage.
About the Author
Rusen Kumar is the founder and managing editor of India CSR – The CSR Informer of India. He writes on CSR, Sustainability and Environmental affairs. He brings an understanding of governance, leadership development, social development, human development, and strategic focus by serving for-profit and not-for-profit boards and as an advisor to chief executive officers and executive management members. His leadership accomplishments in social enterprise, planning, and governance range from viable achievements in knowledge forum initiatives to advancement of corporate social responsibility issues in India. He can be reached at editor@indiacsr.in
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