Ellen Simpson - April 06, 2009
Montana Wood Products Association
Good Timber Policy
Near the end of each legislative session my mind turns to what, if anything, was accomplished creating positive public policy that relates to the activities of the timber community. Trust me, sometimes, a person must dig fairly deep to find a “feel good” piece! I must say this session already I have one passed positive policy that I would like to share with you all.
Senate Bill 49, sponsored by Senator Dave Wanzenried of Missoula, with the short title of energy efficiency standards for construction of state buildings is my winner so far for good public policy. SB 49 is the product of work done during the interim by the Environmental Quality Council and a number of entities interested in energy efficiency and the use of local products.
We believe Montana needs a policy establishing high-performance building standards for state-owned buildings and new state-leased buildings. It simply makes good sense from a taxpayer viewpoint that the better the construction the less cost to maintain and the more efficient the buildings will be.
On the other hand, the policy also needs to be friendly to the use of local wood products for construction and renovation which is not always the case with some certification systems used by builders. There are certain building certifications that are discriminatory toward the use of local wood products and that is unacceptable to those of us in the timber community. Our folks rely on federal, state, and private lands for wood fiber and we practice sustainable forestry, but most of those lands are not certified under a specific standard.
When the EQC was presented with a proposed bill draft that contained the unacceptable certification standards, it was time for the various stakeholders to convene and develop an alternative and we did. Those involved in the effort were the Department of Environmental Quality, Architects and Engineers, University of Montana, and the Montana Wood Products Association working to achieve the desired result of Senate Bill 49. The effort was successful and the policy allows state officials the flexibility to use the best materials available but does not lock them into a one-size-fits-all system.
The discussions centered around the highly successful Farm to College program in an attempt to pattern the local wood program in a similar way. Farm to College promotes the use of locally grown food, supports the local economy, saves energy through transportation, and you know what you are eating.
The use of local wood products attains many of the same goals in that it supports the local economy, saves energy, and promotes use of a renewable resource. A key goal is to avoid the costly transportation of materials that may feel and sound good but are not the most environmentally friendly to use. An example would be the use of bamboo flooring milled in and transported from China instead of using larch flooring milled in St. Regis, Montana.
Other good reasons to use locally manufactured wood products along with other materials in addition to just being the right thing to do is that wood is renewable, recyclable, biodegradable, energy efficient, stores carbon, and is durable. As a friend mentioned, if we did not already have wood, someone would be trying to invent it.
Senate Bill 49 also ensures the wood product use process possesses a life cycle assessment to track the wood from harvest to mill to building. This is a chain of custody issue for those who want to know that the wood is harvested in a sustainable manner. Language in the bill, now statute, addresses that issue.
By amending the bill during the process to contain an immediate effective date, we are optimistic that the new policy can and will be used for the myriad of building projects proposed under the federal stimulus package thus providing Montana taxpayers and employees who work in the facilities with energy efficient, high-performance state buildings. What a great public policy win for all of us!
On behalf of the Montana Wood Products Association based in Helena, I am Ellen Simpson. Thanks for listening.
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