‘Responsible Wood flies the flag for responsibly sourced timber at Australia’s peak glazing conference’
SYDNEY, 04/09/2019 – Responsible Wood, Australia’s largest forest certification scheme, was on hand to talk forest certification with the who’s who of the Australian window, glass and security screen industry.
And for Jason Ross, Marketing and Communications Officer, Responsible Wood’s involvement with AUSFENEX19 is a natural fit.
‘By the numbers windows and doors are among the top ten products that architects, designers and builders want to see at trade exhibitions.’
‘When it comes to windows and doors, timber selection is all important, both structurally and as an architectural finish,’ Mr Ross said.
For Responsible Wood, the verification of timber, at its origin, is a crucial purchase decision faced by architects, designers and builders alike.
‘Responsible Wood regularly presents workshops with architects, engineers, designers and builders, and we know that many specifiers of timber based products are committed to doing the right thing and sourcing timber based products from responsible forests.’
‘Timber in many ways is the natural building material, but what forest certification provides is the confidence that timber is sourced from forests that have been assessed to meet sustainable benchmarks and maintained through the supply chain.’
‘So when it comes to using timber framing in windows and doors, forest certification provides architects, designers and builders with a level of trust that timber is sourced from forests that are managed for future use, provide for local communities and preserve humanity and wildlife thereof.’
Globally there are two internationally recognised forest certification schemes, PEFC and FSC, which together are used to certify more than 8% of all global forests.
In Australia, the Responsible Wood certification scheme is mutually recognised and internationally endorsed by PEFC and uses the Australian Standard for Sustainable Forest Management (AS 4708) and Chain of Custody (AS 4707).
Demand for Responsible Wood and PEFC forest certification continues to grow with Responsible Wood receiving a spike in timber based inquiries since the start of 2019.
‘Demand has grown, as the national governing body for PEFC in Australia and as managers of the Responsible Wood certification scheme in Australia, we continue to receive strong inquiry from the building sector.’
‘Certainly the increase inquiry has been reflected here at AUSFENEX19 with suppliers and specifiers alike asking more and more questions about forest certification,’ Mr Ross said.
In June 2019, the Sydney Metro North West became the first Australian project to successfully achieve Responsible Wood project certification, a high watermark with a Responsible Wood claim being provided for timber supplied on the project.
The first but definitely not the last, Responsible Wood is aware of a number of other construction projects that hope to achieve Responsible Wood and / or PEFC project certification.
For more information about PEFC or the Responsible Wood certification scheme please refer to the Responsible Wood website, for more information about AUSFENEX19 please refer to the AUSFENEX website.
