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AbOUt PEFC
PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certication) is an international non-prot, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting Sustainable Forest Management through independent third-party certication. PEFC is an umbrella organisation. It works by endorsing national forest certication systems developed collaboratively by all interested stakeholders and tailored to local priorities and conditions. National forest certication schemes undergo rigorous third party assessment against PEFCs unique Sustainability Benchmarks. PEFC has recognised certication systems in more than 30 countries. Together these account for over 243 million hectares of certied forests, making PEFC the worlds largest forest and wood product certication system. It applies the highest ecological, social and ethical standards to forest management and is the certication system of choice for family and communityowned forests. 2
At its core is an independently veried Chain of Custody process which tracks certied material from the forest to the end user enabling companies to make accurate claims on the content of certied material. It proves that each step of the supply chain from the forest to the end user has been monitored closely with independent auditing. To date, more than 10,000 companies have obtained PEFC Chain of Custody certication.
Fabric First
Timber has the lowest embodied CO2 of any commercially available building material. When specifying timber you can be condent that the material you are choosing is a simple and straightforward way to achieve a highperformance building fabric. Fantastic thermal
performance and high airtightness levels allow you to condently meet energy rating targets and achieve performances required by standards such as the Code for Sustainable Homes, Passivhaus and BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) ratings. Using PEFC-certied timber directly helps achieve Levels 3 to 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and also helps to achieve Excellent and Outstanding BREEAM ratings. 3
The use of solid wood solutions, engineered timber systems and products such as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and Glulam are an increasingly popular and fashionable way to build strong and stable structures and bring a striking architectural dimension to modern building design. Glulam and Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is commonly made 4
The UK Contractors Group (UKCG) is at the forefront of promoting best practice in construction and the sourcing of sustainable timber for the UK construction industry. It is the primary association for main building contractors operating in the UK, representing over thirty leading companies including Balfour Beatty, Keepmoat, Galliford Try, Skanska UK and Willmott Dixon. Between them, UKCG members account for 33 billion of construction turnover a third of the UKs construction total output. The UKCG timber procurement guidelines stipulate all timber products purchased for either temporary or permanent use on UKCG member sites should be certied as legally and sustainably sourced, as dened by the UK Governments Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET). 6
The UKCG policy commits members to: support and give preference to procuring products which are able to demonstrate compliance with a recognised responsible sourcing scheme, certied by a third party. CPET currently approves two certication schemes as providing evidence of legal and sustainable sourcing PEFC and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). This UKCG decision gives clear and transparent preference to products that demonstrate compliance with responsible sourcing schemes and which are certied by a third party. To maintain an unbroken chain of custody, all members of the UKCG have committed to a common reporting method which requires documentary evidence of certied timber.
PEFCs distinctive green trees logo transcends language barriers making it a truly global brand. For further information about the PEFC programme in the UK visit: www.pefc.co.uk
Photo credits: B&K Structures, Finnforest,, Gary Ramsay, Lathams, PEFC UK, X-LAM Alliance
PEFC UK Limited Shefeld Technology Parks Cooper Buildings Arundel Street Shefeld S1 2NS t 0114 307 2334 e info@pefc.co.uk www.pefc.co.uk
Printed on PEFC certied paper by Horner Brothers Print Group Limited t 01709 372 277 www.hornerbrothers.com
PEFC/16-33-626