World first for London 2012 Olympic Games & certification

27 July 2012 Sustainable construction

As the 2012 Olympic Games are about to open, a world's first can already be celebrated: The entire London 2012 Olympic Park development has achieved dual Project Certification from the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) schemes for its timber usage —the first dual Project Certification in the world

This groundbreaking achievement in sustainable timber procurement has played a prominent role in helping the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) achieve its commitment of making the London 2012 Olympic Games the greenest games ever with 100% of wood products supplied certified as legal and sustainable.

The project certification ceremony took place on 28 March at the Olympic Park Site with certificates presented to Dr. Peter Bonfield, Head of Construction Products at the ODA and Noah Bold, Park Operations Environment & Sustainability Manager, by the Soil Association.

The development was audited by the Soil Association's Woodmark and is being hailed as a major achievement that is potentially destined to be a future model for timber procurement globally. The scheme also saw a unique and important partnership role played by both PEFC and FSC to make sure that the levels of legal and sustainable timber procured by the ODA achieved the highest possible target. Woodmark said the project was a 'world first' for certification of such a huge and complex site.

Alun Watkins who heads up PEFC in the UK commented: "PEFC is delighted to have worked together with FSC to help make dual certification of this highly prestigious project possible. This is the first dual certified project in the world and we are proud that the UK has provided an example for others to follow in the future. We congratulate the Olympic Delivery Authority on their decision to source only certified timber. This demonstrates a strong commitment to responsible timber procurement which will help to make London 2012 one of the most successful and greenest games ever."

The Games' East London site comprises of seven major venues across the 246-hectare Olympic Park and needed to be managed on a daily basis for the thousands of timber products entering the site. The ambitious approach was driven forward by the establishment of the Timber Supplier Panel that embedded strict policy and procurement procedures and implemented a delivery management system that was forthright in policing and educating stakeholders and their supply chains about sustainable timber and unbroken chain of custody.

Praising PEFC, FSC, the auditors, the timber industry, contractors and CLM (Olympic delivery partner) team managers for their efforts in achieving the target, Peter Bonfield, Head of Construction Products at the ODA added: "It is an outstanding outcome that really shows what can be achieved and it's a strong platform for the industry to build on. Now the question is – what are the industry and certification bodies going to do to take that across the rest of the country."