Growing and harvesting our building materials would be a great way to move toward a closed-loop system rather than a linear path from extraction to disposal. Doing so holds the promise of true sustainability and regeneration of ecosystems instead of damage to them.
Unfortunately, biobased materials today can be at least as problematic as any other material. Intensive land use, chemical use, fuel use, nutrient runoff, and other pollution are among the impacts of agriculture; add to that competition between food crops and those used for building materials or fuel. We would like to see sustainable use of biobased materials, but improving practices and figuring out how to assess and document more sustainable practices will take a long time. There is no ready equivalent to FSC for biobased materials that aren’t wood, although certification to “organic” standards or other sustainable agriculture standards can provide guidance in some cases.
At the same time, we don’t want to exclude biobased products that are typically responsibly sourced just because they don’t have a certification—particularly where they replace more problematic materials. GreenSpec continues to give preference to rapidly renewable alternatives to materials that present greater concerns. Examples of rapidly renewable materials in GreenSpec include linoleum, cork, and textiles such as wool, sisal, and organic cotton.
Safe 'N Sound Emerald Doors
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Third-party forest certification based on standards developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is the best way to ensure that wood products come from well-managed forests. Wood products must go through a chain-of-custody certification process to carry an FSC stamp.
Manufactured wood products can meet the FSC certification requirements with less than 100% certified wood content through percentage-based claims (30% certified content is required if only virgin wood fiber is used; certified-wood content as low as 17.5% is allowable if the rest of the fiber content is from recycled sources).
With a few special-case exceptions, FSC-based certification is a requirement for GreenSpec inclusion of any nonsalvaged solid-wood product and most other wood products. A few manufactured wood products, including engineered lumber and particleboard/MDF, can be included if they have other environmental advantages--such as absence of formaldehyde binders. Engineered wood products in GreenSpec do not qualify by virtue of their resource efficiency benefits alone (for more on this, see EBN, Vol. 8, No. 11). -
We consider agricultural waste materials such as straw—the stems left after harvesting cereal grains—to be a good alternative to conventional materials. Such materials might otherwise be wasted, and using them makes the most of agricultural crops.
Masonite’s Emerald Safe ‘N Sound solid-core interior doors have wheat-straw cores, skins made from composite wood, and stiles and rails made from made from solid wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These doors reduce sound transmission and do not contain any added urea-formaldehyde. Safe ‘N Sound Emerald doors are available in 1-3/8" thickness and 6'8", 7'0", and 8'0" heights, with widths from 1'0"–3'0" for passage doors and 2'0"–6'0" for bifold doors. Hollow core doors are also available at a lower price point.
The materials used in interior doors are the biggest driver of environmental performance, in contrast with exterior doors, where energy performance is paramount. Look for products made of materials with a lower embodied environmental impact and that do not introduce indoor air quality concerns.
GreenSpec lists doors made from FSC-certified wood or reclaimed wood. As with other wood products, specifying FSC-certified wood doors promotes long-term forest management for the benefit of forest ecosystems, timber resources, and local economies. Reclaimed wood doors, like other reclaimed wood products, don't carry the environmental burdens of recent timber harvesting. Previously harvested woods remilled into wood doors can provide rich colors and beauty generally not available from today's faster-growing timber.
GreenSpec also lists composite doors with environmental features such as rapidly renewable materials, agrifiber residue, no added urea formaldehyde, FSC-veneer stiles and rails, salvaged wood, and recycled content. Use of wood byproducts for core material is good, but is considered standard industry practice. Wood byproduct core doors need to have other green features to be listed in GreenSpec.
GreenSpec looks for products that meet California Section 01350 or other stringent emission protocols.
Certifications
LEED Credits
MRc4: Recycled Content
MRc6: Rapidly Renewable Materials
MRc6: Certified Wood
MRc7: Certified Wood
Ratings and Commentary
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