Deal brokered on sustainable timber

THE Green Building Council of Australia has bowed to pressure from the Federal Government and the national forestry union to adopt an industry-backed certification scheme for sustainable timber.

The deal was brokered between federal Forestry Minister Tony Burke and the council in meetings last week, and will be announced today.

It means the Australian Forestry Standard for sustainable timber will now be considered as part of 'green star' ratings of new buildings for environmental impact and energy use.

The council had previously considered only the stricter and internationally recognised Forestry Stewardship Council certification scheme for sustainable timber but has come under immense pressure from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and state and federal forestry ministers in recent months to relax its standards.

Environmentalists say the Australian standard is less environmentally credible than the internationally recognised Stewardship Council scheme, because it certifies 90 per cent of all timber chopped down in Australia as sustainable.
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What value does it have you can ask yourself...
On the other hand it has low energy requirements to process compared to other building materials.
If only they could grow and cut the wood a bit more sustainable.