President & CEO American Wood Council
The American Wood Council (AWC) has been a leader and strong supporter of the wood product industry’s environmental data collection efforts and commitment to transparency. To that end, AWC recently pursued and has been awarded multiple grants that will support more robust data collection and analysis, helping us to better tell the industry’s remarkable and truly unmatched sustainability story.
Last year, AWC received a Wood Innovations Grant (WIG) from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to expand AWC’s Lifecycle Assessment database. The database currently includes data from AWC member companies and is available only to AWC members. However, the expansion will now allow non-member mills and manufacturers to input data without an additional cost burden. The Lifecycle Assessment database collects data related to sourcing and product manufacturing that is analyzed and used to produce the industry’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). This expansion will help strengthen the industry’s EPDs and ensure that the data used is representative and more accurately communicates the sustainability of U.S. wood products. The work to increase data collection under the WIG grant has already begun with AWC holding several trainings for other wood product associations as they prepare to support their members in submitting data.
In May, the Softwood Export Council (SEC) announced AWC would receive a $750,000 Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) grant to generate life cycle assessments (LCAs) and EPDs for U.S. engineered wood products. These LCAs will address the increasing consumer interest in and legislation on transparency and environmental sustainability data of U.S. wood products. In addition, the grant will support AWC’s efforts related to the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Work in these arenas will help protect wood products from unfair treatment in new and existing standards in the U.S. and globally.
Earlier this year, AWC also submitted a $10 million grant application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that if received, will fund a number of important projects related to data collection, Product Category Rules (PCR) and EPD development. It also provides pass through funding for several partner organizations to undertake stand-alone projects that AWC would facilitate through the grant. We are eagerly awaiting EPA’s expected announcement of the grant recipients.
These grants are part of the bigger story AWC, and the wood products industry, is telling: U.S.-based wood products are the most sustainable, renewable building material with the data to show it. AWC’s commitment to transparent data collection and environmental product criteria is helping position the industry as a leader in environmentally friendly building materials and sets the standard for transparency. These grants are funding projects that will highlight and demonstrate the sustainability story of U.S. wood products.
As part of the WIG grant, AWC’s Life Cycle Survey will launch in August. All American wood products mills are eligible to be a part of this impactful survey that will inform the industry’s regional EPDs. If you are not an AWC member and are interested in participating contact: Adam Robertson by emailing adam@sustainatree.ca.
To learn more about the AWC, visit www.awc.org.
