NEWS RELEASES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Members of the Western Canadian Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) Implementation Committee announced today they will help Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver build six townhouses in Burnaby by donating forest products from responsible sources.

Ainsworth Engineered Canada, Husby Forest Products Ltd., Hancock Forest Management Inc., West Fraser Mills Ltd. and iLevel by Weyerhaeuser will contribute nearly $25,000 for certified products, including engineered wood products, plywood for roofing, lumber, OSB and cedar fencing. The SFI Implementation Committee from Washington state will also make a contribution. Volunteers from SFI member companies will be invited to participate in a build day when construction begins next year.

The structure, part of a 27-townhouse community Habitat for Humanity is building on Government Street, includes three accessible units at ground level. It will be certified to the standards of Built Green Canada, a voluntary green building program that promotes green building practices to reduce the impact buildings have on the environment.

“Like all Habitat projects, these homes will be built to simple, decent specifications and quality standards,” said Anneke Rees, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver. “As a bonus, our partnership with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative means we can use wood products from organizations committed to responsible forest management – and committed to local communities.”

Independent non-profit SFI Inc. manages the largest single forest certification standard in the world, with more than 70 million hectares/175 million acres of certified lands in Canada and the United States. It meets the needs of local communities through 37 local SFI Implementation Committees, which raise public understanding about forestry and ensure the SFI Standard is implemented consistently. The Western Canadian committee has members with certified woodlands in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“The participating WCSIC member companies recognize the value of contributing to this partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Built Green Canada as a means to promote green building and raise awareness of the benefits of third-party forest certification in a way that will also be beneficial to lowincome families of the Greater Vancouver area,” said Stephen Vinnedge, co-chair of the Western Canada SFI Implementation Committee. “Western Canada is a world leader in forest certification with over a third of certified forest lands in British Columbia and Alberta certified to the SFI Standard.”

“The SFI program is proud to once again participate in a Habitat project, which will provide homes for hard-working, low-income families,” said SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow. “Habitat for Humanity and the SFI program share common features – both draw on the strength of partners to deliver tangible results and both support green building.”

To date, SFI partners and participants have donated time and resources for eight Habitat projects in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Tennessee, Maine and Minnesota – including the first Habitat home on a First Nations reserve in Canada and the first Habitat homes certified to the Built Green Canada and the ANSI/ICC 700-2008: National Green Building Standard green rating systems.