TORONTO - The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association issued a call for building materials firms to embrace uniform standards for assessing environmental analysis of building materials, such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPD).

The cedar lumber industry group issued a statement laying out its views last week at the Toronto Green Build Conference. EPDs, a universal system based on third-party comparison of data across pre-established categories, could help reduce confusion in the construction industries, said the Western Cedar group.

“A lot of data points to interest in Environmental Product Declarations as an early trend,” according to Dr. Jim Bowyer of Dovetail Partners, an expert on EPDs. “They establish a universal basis for independent comparison of environmental product attributes.”

The Binational Softwood Lumber Council made a similar call Sept. 30, citing a study whose authors advocate for greater use of life cycle analysis in building codes and standards as an environmental benefit.

Advancement in life cycle analysis, combined with “new technologies for improved and extended wood utilization are needed to continue to advance wood as a green construction material,” according to a Forest Service release announcing the agency’s study titled, “Science Supporting the Economic Environmental Benefits of Using Wood and Wood Products in Green Building Construction.”

In making its case, the Western Red Cedar Lumber Assn., which advocates for the interests of its member producers of cedar products, points to several industry trends that support its case. For one, the U.S. Green Building Council has developed a pilot credit program that includes a transparency incentive.

Also, notes the Western Red Cedar group, the U.S. Forest Service recently advocated for green building standards with provisions to recognize the benefits of life cycle environmental analysis to guide materials selection.

"Determining the true cost of materials requires evaluating the overall costs of a product lifecycle,” says Jack Draper, WRCLA’s executive director. New building code requirements also have required third-party environmental scrutiny of materials, he notes.

“EPDs are at the core of our approach to Materials and Resources in the next version of LEED and they are essential to move to the next level of environmental decision making about materials and products,” said Scot Horst, senior VP of LEED, U.S. Green Building Council.