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Understanding softwood lumber markets through data analysis
Sustainable forestry in British Columbia

Sustainability

Olympic Industries is proud to trade in a resource that is naturally sustainable and an environmentally friendly building material. Managed responsibly, our forests provide economic, social, and environmental benefits to communities around the globe. We work hard to ensure that the wood products that we trade in are sourced from properly managed forests to ensure the vitality of the industry for generations to come.

Used for thousands of years, wood is the original high-performance material for building projects of all shapes and sizes. Highly durable, strong and long-lasting, builders have turned to wood products because of their unique qualities, beauty and versatility. Responsibly sourced wood is the one and only renewable building material on our planet. It acts as a natural purifier, removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing the carbon that the growing trees have removed from the air. The production and processing of wood products use much less energy than other building materials, giving them a significantly lower carbon footprint than materials like concrete and steel.

Wooden buildings that have stood for hundreds of years offer a physical testimony to the performance of wood products and the skills of those who work and build with it. We are honoured to play a part in this legacy.

At Olympic Industries, our commitment to supporting sustainable forest operations is a core part of our value system. We also understand that our actions in the marketplace carry a significant level of responsibility. We take an active role in ensuring that the mills and customers that we work with share these values so that our forests can continue to be productive and ethically managed. With the growing uncertainty surrounding the future of our plant’s environmental health, it is critical that we do our part to protect and sustain healthy forests that last generations.

The vision for the future of our company includes a dedication to innovation and exploration of how we can balance environmental, social and economic values in the communities and regions where we operate. We’re proud of our achievements, and welcome the continual challenges and opportunities to make our planet better for everyone.

Certificates

Olympic Industries is proud to be PEFC certified, ensuring our forest management activities are aligned with best practices for environmental, social and economic impact.

  • 325 million hectares of forests globally are PEFC-certified
  • 750,000 forest owners are PEFC-certified globally
  • 20,000 companies in the world benefit from PEFC Chain of Custody certification
An impressive example of wood craftsmanship in architecture. The building features wood panels, beams, cedar and pillars creating a visually striking and unique design.
The Wood Innovation and Design Centre Prince George, BC
Photo of a building showcasing beautiful lumber architecture, built using sustainably-sourced, high-quality wood such as redwood, cedar, or Douglas fir to ensure long-lasting durability and natural beauty.
The Wood Innovation and Design Centre Prince George, BC
North America's Sustainable forest management annual harvest in square kilometres ↓
Total Area of British Columbia 944,735 km² Forested Land 550,000 km² Available Land for Harvesting 220,000 km² Annual Timber Harvested 2,000 km²

The United States and Canada are world leaders in forest management practices. With more than 480 million acres, these two countries represent more than half of the world’s certified forests.

Certified forests are inspected annually to ensure that global best practices of responsible forest management are being adhered to. These standards include protections for wildlife habitat, water/soil resources and numerous other environmental safeguards.

Source: Naturally Wood

Corporate Responsibility

Olympic industries’ is committed to working with all First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people to provide strong backing for the process of Reconciliation.

By supporting inclusive dialogue, creating an awareness of the past, acknowledging the harm that has been done, and taking accountability for constructive actions moving forward, we are working to renew the relationship with Indigenous peoples, based on the recognition of equity, dignity, justice, and respect.

Olympic Industries acknowledges our responsibility to act on the:

Land Acknowledgement 

Olympic Industries acknowledges that our corporate headquarters are located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Musqueam Nation. We recognize and respect them as nations in this territory, as well as their historic connections to the lands and waters around us since time immemorial.

Hectares certified under forest management practices ↓
Russia USA Australia Sweden Finland Belarus Poland Brazil Germany France Canada 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 168 56 47 28 24 18 17 14 9 9 8

Canada is a world leader in the independent certification of forest management practices, and has more certified lands than any other country. At a time when just 10% of the world’s forests are certified, Canada is home to more than 37% of all certified lands.

Source: Dovetail Partners using the Athena Eco-Calculator (2014)
Values in millions of hectares

Innovation

With architects, builders and developers facing the stark realities of climate change, there is a dire need for sustainable design, building materials, and construction methodologies. In our industry, this crisis is being met head-on through innovations in the field of mass timber construction. Largely ignored as a viable structural material in the age of modernism, recent years have seen numerous advancements related to mass timber across the globe. Modern timber structures are now able to reach the same scale and height as buildings constructed with traditional concrete forms or steel superstructures. This shift in thinking has the potential for mass timber to become the dominant material and hope for a sustainable future.

Given the unique position of Olympic Industries, working with both the end users and producers of wood products, we work to positively influence change and champion the usage of timber products as the key to the sustainable cities of the future.

Embodied effects relative to the wood’s carbon footprint across all measures ↓
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 GWP Acidification Eutrophication Ozone Depletion Smog Potential Fossil Energy Resource Use

Wood is the only structural building material with third-party certification systems in place to verify that products have come from a sustainably managed resource. The chart below showcases that wood has a lighter carbon footprint than other common building materials and is much less greenhouse gas intensive on a life cycle basis.

Source: Dovetail Partners using the Athena Eco-Calculator (2014)
Normalized to wood = 0.75
Mass Timber Project for a Vancouver based lumber construction project
Audain Art Gallery Whistler, BC