When a house is listed for sale in Colorado, the seller can fill out a green disclosure form to indicate what "green" or environmentally friendly qualities the house has. Many of the terms on the form are specific terms, often abbreviated, that may be unclear. Let's go over them and discuss what they mean.
The sixth item is "Sustainable Materials." The form's options are: FSC Certified Lumber, Reclaimed Flooring, FSC Certified Cabinets, Sustainable Flooring, Recycled Content, and Regionally Harvested.
The "FSC" in "FSC certified lumber" stands for "Forest Stewardship Council." Two certifications are available, "Forest Management Certification" and "Chain-of-Custody Certification." The "forest management certification" means that wood from a forest has been harvested legally, with respect to indigenous peoples, with ethical treatment of workers, efficiently, sustainably, and with minimal environmental impact. The "chain-of-custody certification" means that products are tracked from their forest management certified origins throughout the supply chain and distinguished from non-certified products. For more information and to look up Certificate Holders, see the FSC website at http://us.fsc.org/index.htm
"Reclaimed flooring" means flooring made of wood that was previously used in another construction. This is a good way to use woods that were once abundant and commonly used but are now less available. A partial list of reclaimed flooring providers is available at http://www.reclaimedflooring.com/
"FSC certified cabinets" are cabinets made with the Forest Stewardship Council's Chain-of-Custody Certification, from FSC Forest Management Certified wood supplies. Read more at http://us.fsc.org/index.htm
"Sustainable flooring" has been produced from sustainable materials using sustainable processes, which means that both the materials themselves and the methods used for harvesting, production, use and disposal have minimal environmental impact. For standards of sustainability, here is a website where there is information about carpeting and resilient flooring standards: http://www.nsf.org/business/sustainability/index.asp?program=Sustainability
"Recycled content" is the use of previously used material to partially or completely make up a new item. An example is recycling the gypsum previously used in drywall to make new drywall. Read more at the Construction and Demolition Recycling Association's website: http://www.cdrecycling.org/
"Regionally harvested" means that a home was constructed using raw materials, like wood, from within 500 miles of the home's location. Here is more information: http://www.leeduser.com/credit/NC-2009/MRc5
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