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Better Building Initiative Includes Sustainable Forestry

Recently, President Obama announced his Better Building Initiative, which is a plan meant to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. The Initiative’s goal is to reach a 20% improvement by 2020, which would save $40 billion a year! Part of the program includes a Race to Green program, encouraging building code reformation for states and local governments to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. Goodforforests.com explains how one way of improving efficiency is by using certified wood in commercial buildings.

There are many benefits of using wood in commercial buildings. It only requires one third to one fourth of the energy that structural steel requires. Also, wood results in half of the fossil fuel emissions and carbon storage in the long run compared to steel. Using certified wood is a great way to use a durable and renewable building products to improve energy efficiency.

SFI – certified wood also helps the economy. The forest management standard applies mainly to North American forests and helps the careers of forest owners and other forest employees. By using SFI certified wood, you are creating demand for jobs in your local markets.

There are many more benefits to using wood when considering green building projects. For more information on these benefits, visit Schutte Lumber today!