A Sustainable Solution to the Process of Procuring Glulam Products

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Executive Summary

The profession of architecture in this country is faced with the reality that much of our industry is supported by practices which cause undeniable harm to the environment. The rapid growth of human activity into sensitive ecosystems; the support of unsustainable resource industries; the continued practice of designing buildings which do not meet sustainable design standards; all of these issues point to a profession unable to control its reliance on unsustainable practices.

In an effort to mitigate the impact of these issues, the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC) has drafted a no harm policy that states, “in every region we conduct business, we promote business schemes compliant with a high sense of principles and seek to act for the good of society.” In observance of this policy, the AIBC has begun encouraging the procurement of engineered wood products with due concern for the social, economic and environmental sustainability of affected forests. We hope to achieve this through a number of initiatives, aimed towards encouraging our membership to manage their supply chain from the supplier back to the harvested forest to ensure the sustainability and environmental safety of the wood products procured.

The AIBC’s procurement policy regarding Engineered wood products, specifically Glue laminated products (glulam), will ask professionals to conform to a standard of operation designed for the long-term social, economic and environmental sustainability of the forest.

1.2 Introduction to Glulam

Glulam is a structural timber product manufactured by gluing together pieces of dimension lumber. As a result of its attractive appearance and relatively significant malleabili...

... middle of paper ...

...roduction

A proper Chain of Custody (CoC) can play a large part in the sustainable procurement of architectural glulam products. However, the CoC involved in a glulam product could prove to be quite complex, as the material provided for the finished product could come through a variety of sources. As noted previously, glulam is manufactured from lamstock, which is purchased from wood mills as a specialty stock. Maintaining a consistent CoC through this process is much more difficult than for other products.

Goal

All future AIBC projects using glulam will require a proper CoC including harvesting permits, bills of lading and other pertinent documentation as it pertains to the harvest and production of this material.

The CoC must provide evidence that the previous policy requirements have been met, including the specification of certified forest products.