Green Star credits for timber: alien invasive?

#1

Hello. Does Green Star (Interior) grant credits for using alien invasive timber species instead of FSC certified or reclaimed timber?
How difficult or easy is it to source FSC or PEFC timber in SA? Any leads on good suppliers?
Thanks, Liesl

#2

Hi Liesl

Thank you for raising this question. I’m not aware of credits being available for use of invasive timber species. @Francois_Retief Any direction on this?

Regarding suppliers, it is a tough one. Most suppliers find the compliance with FSC to be burdensome, so I invite you to call around to get a betters sense of their attitude towards this. Most suppliers can source it for you, at a premium.

Good luck,
Anton

#3

Agreed, at the moment the Green Star tools do not cater for alien timber. However, I would think there is a strong case to motivate this as an environmentally equivalent (or superior) option to FSC certified timber. I would be happy to contribute to the drafting of such a ‘Credit Interpretation Request’ to send to the Green Building Council.

A couldn’t agree more with @Afrikason that the FSC process is perceived as cumbersome and expensive locally, so an alternative would be great.

@lieslh apparently you can search the FSC database for suppliers, but I have not tried it myself. https://info.fsc.org/certificate.php. Do you have any recommendations for alien timber suppliers?

#4

Thank you, @Francois_Retief and @Afrikason. My experience with calling suppliers is what you described, so good to confirm it’s a common issue.

@Francois_Retief the Credit Interpretation Request sounds like a good idea. I will follow up with you.

#5

@Francois_Retief I’m also available to participate in the CIR process. You are welcome to DM me via e-mail. A+

#6

I agree with @Francois_Retief that this is worthy of a CIR. I would suggest that in order to be equivalent to the standard, you need to demonstrate the origin of the timber and that it was obtained as part of an alien-clearing programme, as opposed to from a managed plantation.

PEFC seems to be easier to track down than FSC. I think Sonae Novaboard, and Numill marketing used to carry FSC certification if not still. There are also branded products suitable for use in interiors that carry compliance. What is often tricky is getting all the Chain of Custody documentation in place, but you there is the bundle unbroken documentation route that can be used (https://gbcsa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202682811-MAT-8-SUSTAINABLE-TIMBER).

I think if a finished product is branded and boxed, the CoC certificate requirement should or could be waivered, but again you’d need to check for a CIR on this or generate one.

#7

Thanks Peta, that is very useful.