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Q: Before signing on to a green project, what type of considerations should a manufacturer take into account?
Tom Julia, president, Composite Panel Association: The most important thing to do is to have a conversation with your customers about what "green" means to them and what their expectations for the project are. While there's no doubt that customers are demanding green projects, there is no universal agreement on what that means. To some customers, air quality may be the most important consideration. Others may be most concerned about the sourcing of specific products. To be successful, you need to know the yardstick by which your customer will be measuring the "greenness" of the project. Once you know that, you have what you need to find the appropriate materials and make that customer happy.
Margaret Fisher, North American director of market development, Saunders Wood Specialties: First, is it a REGISTERED LEED® project or are they just using those guidelines to build a better environmentally friendly building? There is a big difference in the amount of administrative work going through the plant. Then decide if your firm is ready to take on the additional tasks for learning what will be required, assigning the responsibilities of who will do what, research which materials fit which credits, keep track of materials and know how to calculate them. If the project is seeking credit for certified wood, they will also have to prepare for material and paperwork separation, labeling requirements and regulations, and the inspections and fees involved in being on the FSC Chain of Custody. If you don't have enough staff hours to take this on now, will you when it's time to do the job?
Q: Many manufacturers are reluctant to take on green projects because of the increased cost. What is the cost benefit to working on green projects?
Julia, CPA: Green building (as a subset of the larger green movement) is not a fad, and it is rapidly getting to the point where customers are expecting every product they touch to be green. In today's marketplace, offering up a green product is no longer a luxury; instead, it's approaching a necessity, a way to keep yourself relevant in an evolving marketplace.
The growing prevalence of green products in the marketplace means that it is frequently possible to find green products that carry little, if any, price premium. In addition, there are a number of third-party organizations that have sprung up to help connect manufacturers with suppliers of green products and guide manufacturers through the bewildering array of competing standards and green programs, so don't let your confusion or fear of increased costs stand in the way of you entering the green marketplace.
Fisher, Saunders Wood Specialties: The owner of the building pays the additional cost of having the entire building administrated as a LEED-certified building. The additional cost of materials and processing the project are part of his decision to do so. The average cost of building a LEED®-certified building is about $4 more per square foot with a payback of about $11 per square foot over a 20-year period. Additionally, about 35 states now have between one and four tax incentives to build with environmentally improved measures. These might be sales, property, income or corporate. You can find what your state offers by going to www.eere.energy.gov. There are also savings in waste management, water use, power, etc.
Q: Are there ways a manufacturer can be involved in a green project without going through a stringent certification process?
Julia, CPA: The environmental sophistication of consumers has increased alongside the development of the green movement. Today's consumers are quite savvy about environmental claims and are especially attuned to "green washing," overblown, unsubstantiated marketing claims about the environmental attributes of a product. In today's environment, a product or project needs to be backed by a credible certification process to be taken seriously. Independent, third-party certification is the best way to assure consumers that your products are truly as green as you say they are.
However, such independent certification does not have to cost a lot of money. The Composite Panel Association (CPA) offers one program that is free. CPA's Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) Downstream Program is an environmental licensing program available to any downstream manufacturer that uses at least 50 percent EPP-certified composite wood products. The underlying 7-year-old EPP program is a rigorous third-party certification program that assures emissions from composite wood panels meet CARB Phase I levels and panels are made from 100 percent recycled or recovered wood fiber.
Thanks to the increasing demand for EPP-certified material in the marketplace, many downstream manufacturers find they qualify for the EPP Downstream program without any changes to their product purchasing practices. More information on CPA's EPP programs can be found on the association's website at www.pbmdf.com.
Fisher, Saunders Wood Specialties: Only one LEED® Credit requires a certification process. A woodworking firm might provide many other credits. Other credits are written to include building materials such as reclaimed, salvaged and reused materials, regional materials — that is things within 500 miles of the project site, no added urea-formaldehyde, rapidly renewable materials — things with a life cycle of 10 years or less, and recycled content cores. More of our suppliers are understanding how their products fit into LEED® Credits. Ask your providers to give you the product data sheets that show this information. If you are providing factory finish, you may encourage the LEED® AP to write an INNOVATION IN DESIGN credit for a low VOC/VOE finish. You might also encourage them to write them for wood that has other certifications besides FSC, the use of certified or recycled drawings and plan paper.