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Dovetail Commentary What Green Building has to do with Ants at a Picnic and a Billion Chinese Jeff Howe, April 2005 The green building movement in general and the LEED program of the USGBC in particular, present a tremendous opportunity for the forest products sector. Yet industry appears to be resisting and even in some cases obstructing the opportunity that LEED represents. The key for the forest products industry is to take advantage of this opportunity provided by LEED. It is an opportunity for industry to listen to the details of what may or may not be missing in alternative systems and develop a real understanding of their customer. To a certain extent, wood products companies complaining about LEED for commercial buildings is like an ant complaining about the sandwiches at the picnic. To read the commentary, click here. Dovetail Reports All reports are available online at: http://www.dovetailinc.org/publications.htm Paper Recycling in the United States: How Are We Doing Compared to Other Nations? Dr. Jim Bowyer The U.S. has a long history of paper recovery and reuse. Today, paper and paperboard collection and reuse rates in the United States are 50% and 37%, respectively, with both numbers representing record or near record levels for the nation. While comparison of these numbers to those of other technologically advanced nations can be misleading, it is clear that the U.S. lags behind a number of other developed nations in paper recovery for recycling. However, the differences are considerably less than perceived by the general public. Moreover, recent gains in domestic paper recovery and reuse are narrowing the gap between the U.S. and other nations. Recycling technology improvements are ongoing and are likely to translate into increased rates of fiber recovery and reuse. Such increases will help to blunt harvest pressures on domestic and global forests, but, in light of ever increasing consumption, recycling efforts alone are unlikely to significantly reduce the current level of consumption of virgin fiber. As long as per capita consumption remains at or near current levels, the harvest of virgin fiber for papermaking is likely to increase rather than decrease in the future regardless of what is accomplished on the recycling front. To read the introduction online and access the full report, click here. A Beginner's Guide to Green Building : What the Forest Sector Needs to Know About USGBC & LEED Kathryn Fernholz The Green Building movement is a significant and growing phenomenon both domestically and internationally. The leading program for evaluating and recognizing green buildings is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). At the end of 2004, there were more than 1,700 LEED-registered buildings and this number is predicted to grow to nearly 10,000 by the end of 2009. With standards for everything from water conservation to material selection, the USGBC’s LEED program is already having significant impact on nearly all sectors of the building industry, including forest products. By understanding the LEED system and the specific credits, suppliers can go beyond just offering customers the materials they need and instead start to offer the service of “helping them achieve LEED”. Providing this service does present a learning curve challenge to the industry, but it also represents a significant value-added opportunity. To read the introduction online and access the full report, click here. Global Competition: An Opportunity for Our Domestic Wood Products Industry Dr. Jeff Howe Many segments of the wood products industry are at a crisis point in their history; in some cases organizational survival is at stake. A new paradigm is needed. However, the glass is clearly half full. The opportunity is in redefining success in terms of profits earned and job satisfaction. This article discusses those key activities that can affect the ability of wood products companies to compete in the future. Foremost among these is recognition that the most critical change must occur in the boardrooms and executive offices, not in the factories and warehouses. Research suggests that there are three primary ingredients to successfully addressing this change. To read the introduction online and access the full report, click here. To order any of the Dovetail Reports , please contact us at 651-762-4007 or info@dovetailinc.org “The Outlook” is the monthly e-newsletter of Dovetail Partners Inc , a 501c3 non profit corporation. Dovetail Partners is a highly skilled team that collaborates to develop unique concepts, systems, programs and models to foster sustainable forestry and catalyze responsible trade and consumption.
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