Green building and greenwashing

HE green building movement continues apace and more LBM dealers continue to ask how they can prepare.

One of the best things dealers can do is get their key staff trained in the most relevant programs for their area, whether it's LEED or a regional program. Developing this knowledge base in the organization can only be a positive and, if pursued intelligently, can be leveraged for competitive advantage.

But knowledge of guidelines is only half the battle since. as a merchant. the bottom line is still the bottom line-you have to stock and be effective at selling the green materials and products that green builders want, or should want with the proper education. And education is, of course, one of the most important aspects of selling. Which brings up the question: How do you know which products to stock?

The first part of the answer should be obvious-ask your customers. You have to get close to your customers, learn about the projects their working on, and for goodness sake, ask them what kinds of products you should stock for them. Having some background in green building guidelines will help you ask the questions intelligently, but even so, a green builder who encounters an interested, responsive retailer is practically a customer for life, so go do it!

By Jay Tompt

But relying on your customers to tell you what they want is, again, only half the battle. Developing expertise in your product categories and discerning the "real deal" from the "greenwash" requires some study of product certifications and getting to know the manufacturers.

Product certifications exist to protect against false claims and many are so good that green building rating systems like LEED incorporate them as standard. Among them, for example, are GreenSeal's GS-11, the standard for low-VOC paint and coatings, and FloorScore, for lowemitting flooring products.

But for uncertified products, merchandise managers must determine whether the product is truly green, is good enough to stand behind, and whether customers actually want it. After all, if a product fails to satisfy, for whatever reason, the dealer's reputation can suffer right along with the manufacturer's. And reputations are damaged most when the charge is "greenwashing."

In short, greenwashing is the false or exaggerated claims about a product-that it's "LEED certified" (LEED is a building rating system, not a product certification) when it's not, or that it has any number of "green" qualities that are vague, untrue and/or unverified.

In the realm of green building, merchandise managers can help themselves by asking manufacturers for third party LEED credit analysis or other documentation that demonstrates the veracity of the claims being made. A manufacturer that has gone the extra mile to produce an environmental product declaration, for example, demonstrates not only that the product qualifies for LEED credits, but that they take green building seriously. That's a good sign.

It's also a good idea to attend green building expos and talk to manufacturers directly. There are shows in almost every region of the country. GreenBuild, sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, is the largest national show. These shows are where you'll find the best information on new products and their performance characteristics. Find those gems and your green building reputation will be golden.

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ProBuild Holdings opened a new, 52p00-sq. ft. lumberyard in Grand Junction, Co., July 23, replacing a 4,000-sq. ft. unit (Tim Bork, general mgr.) ...

Austin Bluffs Ace Hardware is targeting an Oct. 30 grand opening for its 21,,940-sq. ft. store in Colorado Springs, Co. (Harold Meteer, general mgr.); owner Darek Barnes'family also operates three other Ace franchises in the area and one in Minnesota

Hollywood Hardware is liquidating its 41-year-old West Sacramento. Ca., location and moving remaining inventory to its other Sacramento branch

Home Depot remains committed to build a 102,513-sq. ft. store with 28,086-sq. ft. garden center on a former Timber Prodacts site in Grants Pass, Or., and has postponed remodeling of a 110,642-sq. ft. former Kmart in Thousand Oaks, Ca., after local officials recommended a 45-day moratorium on new LBM stores ...

Lowe's expects a Znd quarter 2010 opening for a 94,000 sq. ft. store with 26,500-sq. ft. garden center in Hobbs, N.M.; applied to build in Vallejo, Ca., and won planning commission approval to construct a 111,196-sq. ft. store with 27,720-sq. ft. garden center on 10.7 acres in Sonora, Ca., with hopes to break ground this fall

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Angel Point Forest Products, Lakeside, Mt., has been formed by Ahren Spilker, wholesaling western dimension, studs and selects (www.angelpointfp.com)

Plum Creek Tirnber, Seattle, Wa., sold 60Pm acres of Wisconsin timberlandto RMK Timberland Group, Winston-Salem, N.C. ...

EcoBlu Products, Carlsbad, Ca., is leasing a3.6-acre former lumberyard in Prosper, Tx., to open an engineered wood component manufacturing/coating plant and regional office

Fontana Wholesale Lumber /nc., Fontana,Ca, has been Forest Stewardship Council chain-of-custody certified

BlueLinx's Denver, Co., distribution center is now stocking Bay Tree Tb chnolo gie s' PureWood thermally modified wood decking ...

Arch Wood Protection has been granted exclusive North American distribution rights for FlamedXX fire retardant-coated OSB ...

SierraPine, Roseville, Ca., has introduced Encore FR, a pafticleboard with no added urea formaldehyde and a non-borate flame retardant that is Class 1 (A) certified and can be shipped with the option of FSC certification ...

Lo ui s iana- P ac ffic, Nashville, Tn., released the latest version of its Wood-E Design software, which creates wall stud and column designs with LP SolidStart laminatod strand lumber ...

Wo o dfo ld Manufac turing, Forest Grove, Ca., was recognized for its pollution prevention efforts and environmental leadership by the Small Business Ombudsman/Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs ...

Anthony Forest Products earned an NAHB Research Center Green Approved product seal and was honored by the Texas Dept. of Insurance's workers' compensation division for exemplary safety programs at its plants

Daw Building Solutions earned the NAHB Research Center Green Approved mark for its insulation and air sealing products

Combilift's facility in Ireland manufactured its milestone 10,000th forklift, destined for Weyerhaeuser's Parallam mill in Annacis Island, B.C.

Silvaris Corp., Bellevue, Wa., has expanded its OSBMarket website to offer online sales of offgrade OSB across the entire continental U.S. and most of southern Canada...

Sunbelt launched a new website at www.sunbeltracks.com ...

Ainsworth, Vancouver, 8.C., has redesigned its website (www.ainsworthengineered.com) to provide information and technical support for its value-added engineered wood products ...

Housing starts in June (Iatest available figures) creptlup 3.6Vo to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582.000- still 46Vo below lune 2@8's rate single-family starts rcse I4.4Vo to a 470000 pace permits increased 8.7Vo to a yearly rate of 563.000.

Oregon Logging In Freefall

Oregon timber harvests are expected to fall to a record-low 3 billion bd. ft. this year, according to projections by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

In 2008, statewide harvests dropped 9Vo from 2007 to 3.44 billion bd. ft., matching the previious low of 2001.

At its mid-1980s peak, the state's timber harvest reached nearly 9 billion ft.

"When the housing industry gets a cold, we get pneumonia," said Ray Wilkinson, executive director of the Oregon Forest Industries Council. "And there doesn't seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. Any glimmer of hope seems to be a ways out."