Window and Door Makers Offer FSC-Certified Options

Two millwork manufacturers based in Manitoba, Canada—Yarrow Sash and Door, Ltd., of Winnipeg and Loewen of Steinbach—recently began offering Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification as an option for all of their product lines. Compared with certification of a simple lumber product, chain-of-custody certification ensures that the path of the FSC-certified wood from the forest to the consumer is monitored to prevent mixing of certified and noncertified wood through product manufacturing steps. Loewen, a relatively large company, offers only Douglas fir windows and doors, and has made FSC an option on all of them. Yarrow, which focuses more on custom work, offers its FSC option in all of its window and door options, which include 16 wood species. Neither company has immediate plans to offer FSC-certified wood as its standard.