The American Hardwood Export Council (Ahec), a leading trade association, will push for full environmental recognition for the sustainably managed hardwoods industry at an upcoming summit in Abu Dhabi.

The Green Building Middle East Exhibition and Global Summit 2011, the region’s only dedicated exhibition and conference for the sustainable design and construction for the built environment, will be held from March 28 to March 30 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

During the event, Rupert Oliver, sustainability consultant to Ahec, will talk on the sustainable credentials of the American hardwoods.

Rupert will debate the merits of American hardwoods as being the most environmentally friendly building material on the planet. He will also shed light on the initial findings of the life cycle assessment (LCA) study and discuss the significance of adopting green building standards and practices on a global platform.

“A preliminary assessment by Ahec of the carbon footprint of American hardwoods from forest to international distributor suggests that carbon sequestration during forest growth of the tree will more than offset the total carbon emissions resulting from harvesting, processing and transport,” Roderick Wiles, Ahec director for the Africa, Middle East, India and Oceania.

“The Ahec assessment also suggests that transport is a relatively minor factor in the overall carbon footprint. This is particularly true of ocean transport,” he said.

“Transporting American hardwoods by ship across the Atlantic, a journey of over 6,000 km, requires little more energy than an overland journey of 500 km. In fact, even a complete circumnavigation of the world by sea (40,000 km) is likely to be readily offset by the carbon sequestered in the wood product,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service