The Cornerstone Project

The Cornerstone Project is an import substitution initiative that aims to marshal the purchasing power of Vermont’s major institutions to buy local forest products. With increasing interest in forest sustainability and growing demand for green building at universities and state government, the Cornerstone Project also encourages the purchase of certified forest products. The Cornerstone Project takes place within the context of alarming global and national land use trends (e.g., deforestation), the expansion of forest certification systems to mitigate against deforestation, national and local changes in the forest products sector (e.g., increasing imports), state and nonprofit initiatives to rekindle Vermont’s forest products industry, trends in green building, and the threat of climate change.

As originally envisioned by Ed Delhagen, the Cornerstone Project’s purpose is to build a stronger, healthier Vermont economy by creating markets for sustainable Vermont products and services. The Cornerstone Project has four goals:

There have been four main components of the Cornerstone Project:

Building Demand

In November 2001, VSJF and the Office of Senator Leahy convened representatives from four institutions—Middlebury College, Fletcher Allen Hospital, the University of Vermont, and the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services—as well as the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and others to begin connecting the purchasing power of the state’s large institutions with Vermont producers.  As a result, negotiations ensued between partner organizations and several wood products manufacturers for new deals. It soon became clear that the institutions needed more help sourcing local wood and certified products. In May 2002, VSJF received a $50,000 Rural Business Opportunity Grant from USDA Rural Development to advance the Cornerstone Project. VSJF then hired Dan Davis, a former wood products dealer, to find Vermont materials for partner building projects. Through 2002, Cornerstone members worked with architect Jonathan Miller to create a certified, local wood purchasing specification (aka the “Green Spec”) following the industry standard Construction Specifications Institute formatting. In September 2002, Cornerstone partners received the Green Spec to help them source local, sustainably harvested wood for their construction projects. How useful this would be remained to be seen.

Over the following three years, VSJF staff worked with leaders from the partner organizations along with architectural professionals, construction companies and contractors to share information about strategies for purchasing local wood, and ideally wood the comes from forests certified under the stringent Forest Stewardship Council standards (FSC). Throughout the project, VSJF staff presented at numerous workshops including the annual Efficiency Vermont, American Institute of Architects–Vermont chapter (AIA-VT), and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility events, as well as direct outreach to institutions such as St. Michael’s College, Vermont State Colleges, Vermont Wood Manufacturing Association, several architecture firms, and others. These efforts were geared toward increasing awareness of the potential for local purchasing, ultimately leading towards increased demand.

Green Building

Since 2000, interest in the entire green building movement has grown considerably. What was initially a small set of players is now a full fledged movement. Participation at the annual US Green Building Council conference and expo blossomed from 4,000 participants at the first Greenbuild conference in Austin in 2002 to over 10,000 in November 2005 at the Atlanta event. In November 2004, VSJF sponsored a tour for members of the Vermont wood products industry to participate in the Pittsburgh USGBC Expo. With thousands of company representatives packing the display floor, the Vermont contingent returned with a new perspective on a level of demand for green buildings and related products.

As national interest in green building mounted, so too did local interest. To continue supporting development of the supply side of the equation, VSJF co-sponsored two green building events including the Vermont Green Building Network and Vermont Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). The two events provide opportunities for 80 attendees to learn tools and gain knowledge from experienced practitioners. Day one entailed a LEED workshop with the second day featuring the Green and Sustainable in Vermont 2005 Conference and Trade Fair. This event included a green products vendor fair with a session on how to obtain FSC-certified wood for LEED® projects. Each gathering provided insights in how to improve the environmental and economic impact of building activities, and strengthen networks with leaders that share similar objectives.

Building Supply

In efforts to increase the supply of local, FSC-certified wood, VSJF worked with Vermont Family Forests (VFF) and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), to establish the “Vermont Family Forestry Partnership,” a multi-year effort to develop a community forestry organization, certify forests, and promote the manufacture and sale of certified forest products. Since 2000, over 7,000 acres of forestland owned by VFF members have been FSC-certified. Since 2000, VSJF has made five grants totaling $26,950 to establish Vermont WoodNet—a business network of woodworkers. NWF helped 27 Vermont WoodNet members receive FSC chain-of-custody certification.

In December 2005, VSJF granted $20,000 to Redstart Forestry, a consulting forestry firm based in Corinth. Redstart aims to certify 1,100 acres and develop a management plan for its clients that will expand participation by landowners in the emerging certified forest products market. This grant will enable Redstart to show how consulting foresters can work with landowners to aggregate small parcels of land into a certified pool, from which customers seeking certified wood can draw for their green building projects.

Connecting the Dots

By the summer of 2004, meetings between Cornerstone Partners wound down. VSJF had received a grant of $50,000 from the John Merck Fund to support follow on activities to continue building the certified, local forest sector. The institutional purchasers were asking repeatedly for more information about Vermont forest product companies. Who could provide quality, affordable products? Could they work on the institutional scale? Could they find FSC wood at affordable prices? Were there any printed resources that architects reference when designing a structure?

To meet that need, VSJF partnered with the Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association (VWMA) to create a Vermont Wood Products Resource Manual. From 2004 to 2005, VSJF hired Doug Patterson to work with VWMA and Cornerstone institutions to craft the Resource Manual. The first edition featured Vermont companies that either supply or are capable of supplying furniture to institutional buyers. The second edition included additional information on case goods, molding, lumber, plywood and other materials. The purpose of the guide was to provide institutional buyers with a handy reference in a familiar format that eases the process of finding quality local products for which Vermont is known. Unlike previous guides of this type, the manual identifies companies that use FSC-certified wood to point institutional purchasers towards companies with products that will help them achieve credits under the Leadership for Environment and Energy Design (LEED®) program.

 

Photo Credits: Forest (left), Wayne Fawbush; Ben Machin marking a tree (middle), Redstart Forestry; Library furniture (right), Beeken Parsons.

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