For the design of Meyer Memorial Trust's new headquarters, wood as a primary building material was selected with the goal of increasing the project’s overall impact towards equity and sustainability. While considering wood procurement, these two key goals were viewed as interconnected, with the unique potential to amplify each other and connect rural and urban Oregon. Our team partnered with Sustainable Northwest to establish innovative wood sourcing criteria that forged a dialogue between the project team, the client, and the supply chain, to break barriers for sourcing sustainable wood.

The criteria supports forests that are managed intentionally for carbon sequestration, worker rights, human health, water, and wildlife habitat. Wood was sourced locally and met the equity goals of supporting minority-owned businesses, safeguarding rural jobs, engaging local FSC-certified businesses, and encouraging climate-smart forestry. The result is that 85 percent of the wood in the building met the definition of “Sustainable Wood” with 49 percent being FSC-certified.

View the full sustainable wood case study here which details the process, accomplishments, and lessons learned on the project.