Moving Towards a 'Greener' Future.

We're constantly evaluating new and better ways to make our facilities and production more environmentally friendly. Some additional changes we are considering include:

•	Ecogate Equipment – Installing the ECOGATE® MASTER System will significantly reduce the cost of the electricity needed to run a dust collecting system. Dust collecting must transport the sawdust from the workstations in a container in the most effective way. If a designer designs just the well-balanced dust collection system but doesn't keep in mind the cost effectiveness of the system, he is not taking advantage of the benefits of industrial computer control. ECOGATE uses computer controlled technology to enable more efficient dust collecting.
•	Variable Speed Fans – Kiln fans are either fixed or variable speed. Kilns with variable speed fans are more expensive but can allow for improved and flexible kiln drying. We are working on theories to be able to maintain quality and charge cycle times while at the same time saving substantially on electricity use by utilizing our Variable Speed Drive options during certain phases of our drying schedules.
•	Paper Shredding – We have hired a company called Shred-It to collect all of our recyclable paper and shred it on site. We were shredding ourselves which was time consuming and costly. We have increased the amount we recycle while reducing the time and hassle involved which makes for another win-win for the company and the environment. Last year alone Shred-It customers saved over nine million trees!
•	Carpooling Incentives – We are in the process of surveying our employees to see who carpools to work and how often. In order to encourage carpooling and help offset the cost of rising gas prices we are considering offering financial rewards for those at Banks who carpool.
•	Improved Sawdust Management and better measuring equipment.
•	Utilizing Excess Heating Compacity from our kilns to heat some of our buildings.
•	Chopping Our Banding before sending it to the scrap yard.
•	Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council – We have recently applied for Chain-of-Custody Certification for our concentration yards to be able to handle FSC Certified materials in the future. We hope to have this certification in place by the end of 2008.