Conference Recap:
The Dollars and Sense of Going Green
Last month several employees from Banks Hardwoods attended The Dollars and Sense of Going Green, a conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis on October 28th and 29th. Banks Hardwoods was a key sponsor of this event, which was comprised of numerous seminars that discussed issues facing the wood products industry with regard to sustainable forestry, Green manufacturing and production certification.
Among the highlights of the conference were seminars by a representative of a land certification organization, a chain-of-custody certification group and building certification programs. Representatives of Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) both spoke, offering insight as to the similarities and differences of those two major certification programs. A representative of the Indiana Builders Association (IBA) discussed the U.S. National Green Building (USGBC) program and ANSI standards. Many of the individual discussions mentioned issues related to the USGBC and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system.
Industry association executives (BIFMA, AWI, KCMA, ARE and WCMA) and state bureau planners (Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, Indiana Department of Natural Resources) outlined their newest environmental programs, and representatives of secondary manufacturing companies discussed the demand for sustainability certification in major areas of domestic production. Another workshop focused on the potential ramifications of the new formaldehyde emissions rules adopted by the California Air Resources Board.
There were also presentations from managers representing lumber yards, wholesalers and sawmills. Among these was a presentation by Steve Banks, who offered insight as to the environmental vision of Banks Hardwoods and his inspiration for our “Go Green” program. Steve also spoke about our current endeavor to obtain FSC Certification.
One of the important issues which this conference addressed was the sense of confusion felt by many companies in the wood products industry with regard to sustainability and the certification process. As our industry as a whole, and hardwood products companies in particular are impacted by the evolution of Green building and its corresponding certification process, Banks Hardwoods is preparing to be a guiding hand in assisting our customers to select healthy options for their companies.
In developing our knowledge of the certification process, it is important that we thoroughly understand how our customers are being impacted by this new facet of our industry’s business. We would encourage our customers to contact us with questions related to Sustainability and Green building, so that we can assist them with information that will ease the process of growing in an expanding Green business environment.
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