OVERVIEW
Is wood a sustainable material? It depends: a table made from reclaimed wood has a much smaller environmental footprint than one sourced from a monoculture plantation that replaced a rainforest.
Defining responsible material sourcing—and then finding responsibly sourced products—is complicated. Here you will find in-depth resources that detail the benefits and challenges of using biobased materials, reclaimed wood, fly ash, and other materials. Our resources also detail which companies and industries are ahead of the curve in offering responsible choices.
What about the materials you don’t use? Using less is always a good idea—as long as that doesn’t compromise performance.
Doing more with less takes knowledge and attention: it’s about investing in human resources instead of wasting natural resources. And since our small planet has more humans every day, we’re not likely to run out of them anytime soon. Durability, efficient structural systems, and repairing and retrofitting rather than replacing are all key strategies to consider.
IN-DEPTH
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Stone Certification Recognized in LEED v4, Living Buildings
News Brief
Natural stone is one of the oldest green building materials, but it’s the newest to have a rigorous multi-attribute certification recognized by USGBC
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Building Products Matter Even More Than We Thought
Op-Ed
Operational energy use is critical, but materials might be an even bigger part of the solution to climate change and other pressing environmental issues.
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Bark Cladding Is First Cradle to Cradle Platinum Product
News Brief
C2C Platinum certification sets a very high bar for sustainability. A decade in, Bark House shingles are the first product to make the grade.
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FSC, LEED, and the Price of Perfectionism
Op-Ed
A hard line against industry-sponsored alternatives to FSC certification in the past may have unfortunate outcomes for the world’s forests.
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CalStar Suspends Fly Ash Brick Production
News Brief
CalStar Products, Inc. stopped production of its fly ash brick products on October 1 due to financial difficulties.
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Wood Structures Could Reduce Global Carbon by Almost a Third
News Brief
Using sustainably harvested timber in place of concrete, steel, and brick would have a massive positive impact, a new study asserts.
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EPA Finds Coal Fly Ash Safe in Concrete and Gypsum Wallboard
News Brief
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Milk Byproduct Could Become New Flame Retardant
News Brief
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NSF Certification Verifies Sustainability of Stone
News Brief
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FSC to Use Forensics to Uncover Criminal Forestry Practices
News Brief