Made greener in a lactory near you

1/'\vrn rHE LAsr 30 years, the \-f manufacturins core of the United States has bein dismantled piece by piece and shipped off to other countries. Looking for competitive advantage through leastcost labor, brand owners and manufacturers have gradually concentrated in China, which now accounts for a large proportion of product sold through this channel. Even commodity products are very likely to be sourced from China or other faraway places, and not without complications. Has anyone forgotten the drywall controversy?

Low prices are good, or so market logic would dictate, but in a globalized economy there are unintended consequences. Economists have argued that the American middle class, made up of folks who save to buy a house or remodel the one they own, has been significantly diminished by the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs. This has had a devastating effect in hundreds of local economies that still struggle with high unemployment and underemployment. In addition, cheap goods and materials from abroad may have other, hidden costs. Lower quality, for example, can slow productivity or require expensive remediation.

From a green point of view, there's another unintended consequence. Most imported goods and materials will have much higher embodied energy-in other words, a larger carbon footprint. Shipping goods across the ocean spews tons of carbon into the atmosphere. More importantly, a foreign factory may get its energy from inefficient coalburning plants. So, before the import is even shipped, its carbon footprint may already be wildly off the charts compared with a domestically made alternative. There may be other environmental consequences, too, when factories are located in countries with few safeguards in place against pollution, deforestation, etc.

Reducing the embodied energy in buildings is the main motivator behind USGBC's LEED credit for locally sourced goods and materials. This is good, but does it matter? Is anything even made in this country anymore? Yes and yes. Obviously, sourcing goods and materials close to the building site means lower embodied energy and lower amounts of carbon emitted to the atmosphere. It also helps to support local businesses and encourages builders to incorporate local materials. Lumber, stone, strawbale, cob -regional resource strengths will help recreate regional building vernacular, too, providing a welcome break from the homogeneity of mass home production. Shortening the supply chain also delivers strategic business benefits, such as less risk of disruption from overseas events and, potentially, more collaborative relationships between manufacturer and dealer.

And yes, there are still plenty of products made in this country. A Montana builder made news promoting his lOOTo American built house (www.theallamericanhome. com), demonstrating that it can be done and with little extra cost. It also showed that there's strong interest from builders and prospective homeowners to source goods closer to home.

So, what's a good, green dealer to do? Work with your distributors and manufacturers to identify where the products and materials are made, then identify opportunities to make some changes. Shorten the supply chain. Products made closer to home are better or "greener," theoretically, than those made farther away. For example, qualified products and materials made within 500 miles of the jobsite earn LEED credits.

Weigh the costs and benefits wisely-a toxic product made next door is always worse than a green import from Europe. Work with local manufacturers to green up their product line, if necessary. In the store, develop signage that educates and informs your customers about the benefits of buying local or buying American. Finally. resist the temptation to wave the flag, but do make the case based on quality, economics and environmental benefits. There's a strons one to be made.

JaY TomPl Managing Partner William Verde & Associates (4r5) 32r-0848

Builders Lumber & Home Genter, Porttand, Mi., is closing after more than 100 years.

ProBuild will exit the Chicago market by the end of the year, closing its lumber and millwork facilities in Yorkville, ll., and gypsum plant in Westmont, ll.

Separately, the chain agreed to lease a 61,500-sq. ft. facility in Jessup, Md.

Northeast Lumber Supply has relocated from Brockton, Ma., to 4.5 acres in Hanson, Ma.

C.H. Garpenter Lumber, Jamestown, N.D., closed Sept. 13 after 99 years. lts Valley City, N,D., branch remains open.

Builders has remodeled its store in Keamey, Ne.

Coleman's Lumber & Home Center, Harrodsburg, Ky., has closed after 99 years.

Do Cut True Value Hardware, Canfield, oh., was destroyed by a Sept. 14 fire of undetermined origin.

A&L Ace Hardware, Hurricane, W.V., has been purchased by Bill Sexton from Tim Meeks.

Lowe's opened a 94,000-sq. ft. store Sept.23 in Destin, Fl. (Greg Gilmore, mgr.).

Cedar Creek Buys Wholesale Wood

Cedar Creek, Oklahoma City, Ok., has agreed to acquire Wholesale Wood Products, Dothan, Al., from Jim Stuckey and Chuck Harris, who founded the wholesaler in 1979.

"This move backfills Cedar Creek's current coverage area in the Southeast between our current Tennessee and North Carolina branches and further underscores our commitment to growing the footprint of Cedar Creek," said c.e.o. Bill Adams.

The deal is set to close by late November, when Stuckey will join Cedar Creek as a general manager. With the addition of Wholesale Wood's DCs in Birmingham and Dothan, Cedar Creek will operate 14 locations serving 17 states.

Unaffected are Harris and Stuckey's two other businesses, retailer Cole Hall Lumber, Pelham, Al., and manufacturer Custom Lumber Manufacturing, Dothan, Al., with its Plantation Cypress and Plantation Pine brands.

Harris said, "Charles Andre and I will continue to operate the other companies and plan on expanding the cypress business that Custom Lumber has been so heavily involved in the last l0 years. We plan on increasing our production capabilities, especially in the timbers and shingle business."

Coastal Picks Up lron Woods

Coastal Forest Products, Bedford, N.H., has acquired the assets of Iron Woods hardwood decking supplier Timber Holdings International, Wauwatosa, Wi., out of receivership for $2.5 million.

Even after previous owner Cecco Trading defaulted on its loan and let Timber Holdings fall into receivership, the division continued operating while its primary creditor negotiated with prospective buyers.