The Softwood Lumber Board and U.S. Endowment Launch Initiatives for Increased Carbon and Sustainability Transparency in Wood Products

OREGON CITY, Ore., August 19, 2021 (Newswire.com) - The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) announces funding for carbon transparency projects in partnership with the United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment). The funds will support coordinated research exploring the creation of resources and tools to enhance expertise and data across the wood product value chain. Three priority projects will address questions from the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector regarding wood's carbon accounting to show how wood products and forests mitigate carbon emissions and the impacts of climate change.

"The SLB is funding these initiatives as a key step in addressing the built environment's impact on climate change," explained Cees de Jager, SLB President and CEO. "Wood products, and the forests they come from, are natural climate solutions which can sustainably support the built spaces we need for generations to come."

"Forests and wood products are an attractive option for carbon reduction commitments," said Pete Madden, Endowment President and CEO. "To make informed decisions, stakeholders are asking for more up-to-date information on forest carbon and wood products. Our joint efforts build on earlier investments aimed at improving data transparency."

Earlier this year, a team of subject matter experts, including the American Wood Council, the National Alliance of Forest Owners, and several forestry and wood products stakeholders, gathered to evaluate how existing and new research and tool development can meet stakeholder needs to better understand the carbon and environmental impact of growing and using wood products across the full value chain.

The AEC community is interested in sustainability metrics associated with wood products used to design and build today's low- and zero-carbon buildings. Beginning this month, the SLB and the Endowment are exploring opportunities to provide information about woodshed carbon balance and create a consistent framework with forestry information at regional levels.

The partnership will also investigate methods of communicating sustainability and fiber sourcing data clearly and concisely for customers and other interested audiences. Because of the multitude of uses for wood products and the potential environmental impacts related to delivering the product to the customer, wood environmental product declarations (EPDs) do not currently include transportation from a mill to a building site (the A4 lifecycle stage). Planned research will review reporting methodologies with the goal of providing a clearer and more complete picture of the carbon impacts of wood transportation.

For more information about the work underway to address wood's role as a climate solution, please contact the SLB at [email protected].

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About the Softwood Lumber Board:

The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) is an industry-funded initiative established to promote the benefits and uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential, and non-residential construction and to increase demand for appearance and softwood lumber products. Through strategic investments in pro-wood communications, standards development, design and engineering assistance, research, demonstrations, and partnerships, the organization seeks to make softwood lumber the preferred material choice from both an economic and environmental standpoint.

For more information about the Softwood Lumber Board, visit www.softwoodlumberboard.org.

About U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) is a not-for-profit public charity working collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation's working forests and forest-reliant communities. To learn more about the Endowment, please visit our website at www.usendowment.org.

Media Contact

Kabira Ferrell

Softwood Lumber Board

[email protected]

Source: Softwood Lumber Board