PEFC recognized by green building standard BREEAM

24 October 2014 Sustainable construction

"This recognition by BREEAM underscores the growing importance of sustainably sourced wood in construction,” said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International.

"PEFC-certified timber is widely used across all construction sectors from houses, schools and hotels to restaurants, theatres and supermarkets as it offers the additional benefit of enabling and promoting sustainable building projects through PEFC Project Certification.”

Most recently, Kingsgate House, a seven-story residential project in West London became the first major construction project in the world to achieve PEFC Project Certification. Like Bridport House, a groundbreaking multi-story residential complex also built in London, Kingsgate House utilized cross-laminated timber (CLT) sourced from PEFC-certified forests. 

Major sports events, from the 2012 London Olympics to the 2013 Nordic Ski World Championship and Winter Universiade in Italy have all utilized PEFC-certified timber to demonstrate responsible sourcing.

BREEAM – the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method – is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings. Worldwide, there are more than a quarter of a million buildings with certified BREEAM assessment ratings and over a million registered for assessment.

BREEAM's recognition of PEFC joins the growing list of standards and organizations that continue to recognize the merits of all forest certification programs. Organizations like the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), the Banking Environment Initiative (BEI) and the Sustainability Consortium; and green building tools such as the International Green Construction Code, Built Green Canada, and the ANSI accredited Green Building Initiative's Green Globes standard.

Alan Yates, the Technical Director of Sustainability at BRE Global - an independent, third-party approvals organization that oversees BREEAM said, "Our approach provides a way of comparing the rigor and robustness of the various responsible sourcing standards against a single common set of criteria. PEFC meets a common set of requirements based on current best practice."