The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)and Portland, Ore., consulting firm Forest Products Solutions have announced that Goldman Sachs will receive the first annual Designing & Building with FSC Award for their new building at 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, N.J. Launched in conjunction with FSC's new professional training guide, Designing & Building with FSC, this annual award recognizes building projects that have furthered responsible forest management through their use of FSC-certified wood products. The award will be presented in a reception at the U.S. Green Building Council's GreenBuild Conference and Expo in Atlanta, Ga.
Project entries were judged on the use of wood, inclusion of FSC-certified wood products, efforts to incorporate certified forest products market transformation, overall wood design, and appropriate wood use. The Goldman Sachs building is being recognized for its outstanding accomplishments in each of these areas. All wood products used in the building's interior were FSC-certified, including millwork, wood trimming, moldings, veneers, steamed sycamore panels in the main lobby, more than 700 gym lockers, and an astounding 970 interior doors. Completed in April 2004, the building is a 40-story, 1.6 million square foot structure overlooking the Hudson River across from lower Manhattan.
Roger Dower, president of FSC-US, stated that, "the Designing & Building with FSC Award was created to recognize companies that help to transform building markets and the forest products industry through their responsible consumption. FSC is pleased that Goldman Sachs' commitment to sustainability includes use of FSC-certified woods, and that FSC featured prominently in the design of this project. We are thrilled that they so obviously find value in the FSC and LEED programs, and hope their example will be followed by others."
"The use of FSC-certified wood became a focused sustainable design element for our project when we learned that in doing so, we could support environmentally responsible forest management without having to compromise quality or aesthetics. We found that the use of FSC-certified wood was an excellent way for us to both build well and build responsibly," said Anthony Cammarata, managing director and head of corporate services & real estate Americas for Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs has received certification of this building project through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program of the U.S. Green Building Council, a national standard that recognizes achievement in sustainable building techniques. As part of the LEED program, Goldman Sachs earned the "certified wood credit" which verifies that more than 50% of the total value of all wood building materials used in the project was FSC-certified.
Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance, noted that Goldman Sachs' decision to use FSC-certified products in their building sends a "significant market signal that corporations of global stature do care and are directly engaged in sourcing products that meet the highest levels of sustainability."
This award was open to owners, architects, interior designers, general contractors, builders, consultants or other professionals. Projects could be any building type, including commercial, institutional, mixed-use, or residential. To submit a project, it must have used a significant amount (at least 50% of the new wood by cost) of FSC-certified wood and been completed during or since 2002. Forest Products Solutions organized an impressive selection committee that consisted of representatives from architectural firms HOK and William McDonough + Partners, the City of Seattle, the National Park Service, forest products manufacturers Columbia Forest Products and SJ Morse Company, Green Building Services, and the nonprofit organization Rainforest Alliance.Green Biz
