Environmental groups and Canadian Olympic snowboarder Justin Lamoureux recognize 2010 Games venues with Good Wood Awards
Award-winners used Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood in construction, helping preserve Canada’s forests and promote Good Wood
For immediate release
Vancouver — Members of Good Wood Watch today announced the winners of the Good Wood Awards, recognizing 2010 Olympic venues that sourced their wood from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests. The environmental groups — West Coast Environmental Law, Greenpeace, Wildsight and Sierra Club BC — also released a report, Good Wood Awards for Leadership in Good Wood Use for 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Venues.
The award recipients are the High Performance Centre at Whistler Athletes’ Centre and South East False Creek Community Centre at Vancouver Olympic Village. South East False Creek Olympic Village (athletes’ village) and the Vancouver Olympic Centre (Nat Bailey/Hillcrest Curling Venue) received honourable mention.
To earn an award, venues had to use more than 50 per cent FSC-certified wood in their construction, based on the total cost of all wood products. The South East False Creek Community Centre used 80 per cent, while the High Performance Centre used 62 per cent. The venues that received honourable mention have used at least 50 per cent FSC-certified wood to date and expect to use more, but post-Olympic construction to get them ready for continued public use is not yet complete.
“Leading up to the Olympics, we urged VANOC and other key decision-makers to use Good Wood in Olympic venues. While many venues fell short, the award winners leave a legacy of sustainability for our forests.”
—Stephanie Goodwin
Greenpeace forest campaigner
“Using FSC-certified wood is a great way to show the world that opportunities exist to manage our beautiful forests sustainably,” says Canadian Olympic halfpipe snowboarder Justin Lamoureux, who supports the Good Wood initiative. “My boards are built with FSC-certified cores, and I commend the Olympic venues that have shown leadership by using FSC-certified wood.”
The gold standard of forest certification, and the only one endorsed by major environmental organizations worldwide, FSC certification is a mark of environmental and social responsibility in forest management.
“FSC-certified wood is harvested in a way that sustains healthy forests, benefits workers and adjacent communities and respects the rights of First Nations,” says George Heyman, executive director of Sierra Club BC.
Representatives from the venues expressed their pleasure with being part of the effort to reduce the environmental impact of the 2010 Games.
“FSC-certified wood is harvested in a way that sustains healthy forests, benefits workers and adjacent communities and respects the rights of First Nations”
—George Heyman,
executive director of Sierra Club BC.
“The pressure on forest ecosystems must be reduced as much as possible for wood to be considered a good choice from an overall environmental perspective,” says Jason Packer, a sustainability consultant with Recollective who worked on the Olympic Village. “Using FSC wood helps to ensure that impacts of forestry are reduced and signals to the market that there is demand for environmentally sensitive practices and products.”
“We believe in the importance of future forests and sustainable forestry practices,” says Walter Francl Architecture’s Scott Mitchell, who worked on the South East False Creek Community Centre.
In its report, Good Wood Watch also recognized 10 venues with tree stumps for failing to do their part to preserve our forests, including the Main Media Centre at the Vancouver Convention Centre, which had originally planned to use FSC-certified wood, but didn’t follow through.
“Leading up to the Olympics, we urged VANOC and other key decision-makers to use Good Wood in Olympic venues,” says Greenpeace forest campaigner Stephanie Goodwin, who met with the organizing committee to push for FSC-certified wood. “While many venues fell short, the award winners leave a legacy of sustainability for our forests.”
“The pressure on forest ecosystems must be reduced as much as possible for wood to be considered a good choice from an overall environmental perspective. Using FSC wood helps to ensure that impacts of forestry are reduced and signals to the market that there is demand for environmentally sensitive practices and products.”
— Jason Packer,
sustainability consultant with Recollective
“We are encouraged by the award-winning projects and by the fact that the market for FSC-certified wood is growing for all types of wood products and range of uses.”
— John Bergenske
Wildsight executive director
“We are encouraged by the award-winning projects and by the fact that the market for FSC-certified wood is growing for all types of wood products and range of uses,” adds Wildsight executive director John Bergenske.
Canadian FSC wood supply has increased dramatically in recent years, and Canada has the most FSC-certified forest area of any country in the world, with 35.2 million hectares certified.
“Green building projects like our Good Wood Award winners are creating market incentives for the progressive changes in forest management required to ensure our ecosystems and species have a fighting chance in the face of climate change,” says Jessica Clogg, executive director and senior counsel at West Coast Environmental Law.
For more information on Good Wood Watch and to view the report, visit goodwoodwatch.ca.
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For an interview, please contact:
Good Wood Watch
Jessica Clogg, executive director and senior counsel,
West Coast Environmental Law, 604-601-2501
Stephanie Goodwin, senior campaigner,
Greenpeace, 604-761-6722
John Bergenske, executive director,
Wildsight, 250-489-9605
George Heyman, executive director,
Sierra Club BC, 604-312-6595
Good Wood Award winners
Whistler’s High Performance Centre
Leah Nyrose, director of marketing and communications,
Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden, 604-255-1169
South East False Creek Community Centre and Vancouver Olympic Centre
Joyce Courtney, communications manager,
Vancouver Parks Board (financier), 604-257-8699 or 604-861-4375
South East False Creek Olympic Village
Roger Bayley, principal,
Merrick Architecture, 604-683-4131
To arrange an interview with Justin Lamoureux, contact Raina Delisle at 250-891-7246
February 12, 2008 – Exactly two years before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a new spotlight is being shone on the Games’ environmental footprint. The website, GoodWoodWatch.ca, was launched today to ensure environmentally and socially responsible Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood is included in venue construction.