Ecotrust Canada joins Green Building Council in move to link eco-forestry with "new urbanism"

Established in August of 2003, the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is set to transform the country's architecture and construction industries as part of the growing conservation economy movement that's taking root in B.C. Ecotrust Canada is one of six environmental NGOs which have become members of the organization, whose mandate is to certify the sustainability of buildings. Ecotrust Canada sees its role in the Council as linking the boom in urban green building with the need to lead the rural resource economy toward eco-forestry.

A major shift to environmentally friendly construction is occurring in North America. The sector is growing rapidly, especially in the Unites States where LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification of buildings is becoming an industry standard. The U.S. Green Building Council estimates that the number of LEED projects jumped 35 percent last year. LEED rates a building according to five criteria: sustainable site planning, energy and water efficiency, materials and indoor environmental quality. There are currently more than one thousand LEED-registered projects in North America. British Columbia has become a LEED leader in Canada.

Ecotrust Canada believes the CaGBC can also play a leadership role in developing a sustainable forestry industry in B.C., because LEED provides an incentive to use locally harvested, Forest Stewardship Council or FSC-certified wood from sustainably managed forests in buildings.

In one survey of LEED buildings, however, only about 20 percent used FSC-certified wood. The problem is that there is a major disconnect between supply and demand, between rural producers (forest companies) and urban consumers (builders). Architects and construction contractors often complain that it is difficult to source FSC-certified wood. At the same time forest companies complain that there simply isn't enough demand to justified the costs of switching to FSC - certified logging operations. This paradox-consumers complaining that there is no supply, and suppliers complaining there is no demand - is a major impediment to the transformation of the marketplace to sustainable forest products.

Ecotrust's Jean Vollum Natural Capital Centre in Portland, Oregon, is LEED-certified and contains FSC-certified wood products.

Ecotrust's Jean Vollum Natural Capital Centre in Portland, Oregon, is LEED-certified and contains FSC-certified wood products.

Ecotrust Canada is currently establishing a "market connection" program, building on a similar program designed by Ecotrust (US) called Market Connection Initiative, and is conducting a value-chain analysis of FSC-certified forests, mills and manufacturers in B.C. Ecotrust Canada Ian Gill has also sent a letter to the Hon. Stephen Owen, Minister of Public Works Canada, calling on Ottawa to make LEED Silver certification and FSC-certified products part of the government's "green" procurement policy.

Ottawa spends some $750 million per year on the design and construction of buildings. Indeed, a high-profile event like the 2010 Olympics could be used to showcase Canada's "new urbanism" to the world-one that is linked integrally to rural resource communities. It is a future that was passionately and powerfully described to Ecotrust Canada by Jane Jacobs and manifested in Ecotrust's Natural Capital Center in Portland. In his letter, Ian Gill encouraged Minister Owen to make "green" FSC-certified products and "Gold" LEED certification standard for all Olympic projects.

"We are in the grip of a modern myth that…threatens the survival of human society," says Alex Zimmerman, President of the Canada Green Building Council."That myth is that the economy is somehow separate from the environment and that we can pursue economic prosperity without worrying about the integrity of the environment….The way we have operated our society in the past and built our buildings and infrastructure has been part of the old story, the old myth."

Essentially, our cities should speak to our values of protecting our natural capital and celebrating our culture through spectacular wood design and architecture. This would be a true legacy to future generations, and Ecotrust Canada will use our membership in the Canada Green Building Council to implement this vision of the conservation economy.