Wood Recycling Provisions in North American Green Building Programs

Recycled content is a prominent aspect of many North American green building standards, with use of such materials awarded or specified. Construction and demolition (C&D) waste reduction is also a prominent part of most green building initiatives.

This report examines green building programs, model codes, and standards to identify provisions targeting wood re-use and recycling. About 90 green building standards were examined. Current green building programs were determined based on a review of the literature, and on a state-by-state web-based information search. Provisions of each program were reviewed and those related to material recovery, reuse, recycling, and recycled content were identified and are summarized in this report.

In addition to reviewing provisions of various green building programs, the extent of wood recycling in North American wood products manufacturing was also reviewed. Recovered wood use in production of standard particleboard, core stock, hardboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), high-density fiberboard (HDF), and in finger-jointed wood was specifically considered, as these were judged to be the product categories most likely to incorporate significant quantities of this material.