The Green Building Association of Central PA held a public seminar today in Lancaster dealing with the use of reclaimed timber in construction projects. Being the “green realtor” for the Lancaster area, and being a member of the organization, I thought I should get down to the Lancaster Science Factory on New Holland Avenue to be a part of the event and, well, learn something!

There were 3 speakers for the morning:

1. Jeff Horn of Aged Woods, a reclaimed remilled antique flooring firm out of York, PA.
2. Joe Fitzpatrick of Wagman Construction, an environmentally-friendly design/build company also based in York PA
3. Jason Shuey of Rainforest Allilance, who is the Pennsylvania Marketing Coordinator for the benchmark organization.

I appreciated the discussions that went back and forth during the presentations, many of them flying (right) over my head as species and other forestry terms were bandied about by the attendees, many of whom represented regional wood products manufacturers and also some builders. There was a lot to learn – but I was most impressed by the project that Joe Fitzpatrick talked us through that Wagman had wrapped up in downtown York – a gorgeous York PA condos community entitled “Codo” that was built with green features in mind from the start. Where were the photos, Joe! That’s OK, you can see the photos at http://www.codoyork.com/.

Another strong feature for me was Jason Shuey’s presentation on the Forestry certification process, and how it ties into the ultimate LEED certification of a building. Jason focused his attention on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and how independent audits, while more time-consuming, are better than a simple checklist. Dave Sheridan from the GBACPA make the observation that, in the end, it’s all an honor system in operation, that the ultimate goal of all this is to force companies who want to be certified (in this case, that they are responsibly handling environmentally-friendly wood products) to ask THEIR suppliers the question “can you get this for me?”. It has proven over the last 7 years of LEED to have been very effective at transforming otherwise reticent industry players into more thoughtful contributors. Jason was very open & approachable and handled difficult certification issues well. I left more intelligent and able to talk to my clients a bit more about green building in Lancaster County.

One last note should be on the Lancaster Science Factory itself. What a nice facility…if you have kids and are looking for a place to get them engaged with math & science (and perhaps even you…there was this puzzle I gave up on…) you should check out the Lancaster Science Factory. If you have a group opportunity, as I do with our homeschool group Hempfield Homeschoolers, contact Director Janet Stone at 717-509-6388.

Thanks to Dave Sheridan and all the Green Building Association staff for a memorable morning in Lancaster.

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Jeff Geoghan is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker and founder of YourLancasterHome.com, serving all of the Lancaster County, PA area with residential real estate services. Over the past 4 years Jeff has become the leading real estate voice for Green Building and living in PA, and writes & speaks on green home subjects often. For more information on your Lancaster PA green home options and to connect with a manufacturer, supplier or contractor involved in the green building movement locally, write Jeff at info@YourLancasterHome.com or call 717-735-8402.