This report assists Canadian wood product manufacturers in understanding the requirements of the LEED® program. LEED is a tremendously popular “green” design guideline and rating system in the United States and Canada. Environmentally-conscious construction has rapidly escalated in North America from a niche interest area to a dominant media topic and an important market trend in the building sector. The value of U.S. green building construction was $12 billion in 2007, which was a 71% increase from 2006, which itself was a 37% increase over 2005. Every category of construction product is being affected by this design trend.
The green construction, or sustainable design, movement is driven by rising public awareness of the need to reduce demands on resources, mitigate climate change, reduce waste, and improve occupant health, among other goals. The construction sector is identified as a major cause of energy consumption, material use and greenhouse gas emissions; hence it is a target for improvement. Numerous initiatives are in place across the continent toward that end; however none have approached the recognition and influence of LEED. In place in the U.S. since 2000, LEED has become a de facto standard for green design and is increasingly being adopted in the legislation of various jurisdictions.
In recent previous work, Forintek industry advisors performed an extensive roadmapping exercise for the Canadian value-added sector to determine technical and market needs. One of the themes that emerged from this exercise was a general uncertainty with respect to LEED. Manufacturers that serve commercial, institutional and other non-residential clients were increasingly being asked about LEED preparedness and to bid on supplying LEED projects but did not feel prepared to respond.
This report provides a guide to LEED geared specifically for wood product manufacturers and designed to simplify the process of understanding LEED requirements. In the report, we translate the hundreds of pages of LEED material down to just what the manufacturers need to know about issues such as recycled content, certified wood, and VOC emissions of coatings.