My takeaways from AWFS were a roller-coaster ride of confirmation and contradiction. I want to talk about whiplash, the importance of a great story, and generational change.

For over two decades I’ve been occupied by the role sustainability plays in the wood products industry. My mission since the 1990s remains unchanged: I have worked to educate the design community about innovations from the furniture materials universe.

Much of this work has involved creating dozens of certified educational articles that architects and designers are required to complete every year to maintain professional accreditation. These experiences have taught me a lot about how segments like wallcovering, commercial flooring and textiles communicate with the A&D community. 

The power of a story
There is a great need to educate materials suppliers and furniture manufacturers about the ever-changing dynamics of the A&D community. It’s important to understand what motivates them and to connect with them on their terms because, as design specifiers, they don’t buy a single square centimeter of our materials or products — until they’ve sold it to their clients.

The most successful suppliers I know in the interior design world know this and invest heavily in creating a brand story that resonates powerfully with the core values of A&D specifiers.

The most powerful driver in A&D right now is sustainability. And no material has a better sustainability story than wood and wood-based panels. We know this. But most designers and consumers do not. Which means we’re missing out on an advantage that no other industry can touch.

Our story in brief:

• Trees naturally capture and store atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis.
• This captured carbon makes up 50% of wood by dry weight.
• It remains stored until the wood either burns or decomposes. In the case of cabinet doors, this can mean decades during its useful life, and perhaps hundreds of years in an anaerobic landfill.
• An average 4x8 sheet of particleboard is storing about 40 lbs. of naturally captured carbon.
• According to an LCA (life cycle analysis) on particleboard, producing that panel and converting it to furniture releases about 26 lbs. of carbon.
• This means that panel is storing an extra 14 lbs. of carbon, or 40% MORE carbon than it “cost” to make.
• Which means particleboard is better than carbon neutral — actually carbon negative. To adopt terminology used by IKEA and other global brands, this material is climate positive.
• Solid wood, plywood and other wood-based products are also climate positive, but we don’t yet have the LCAs to quantify their numbers.
• No other material comes anywhere close to this level of sustainability.

Not a hard story to tell. It’s based on science. But we’re not sharing it.

Our challenges
Back to AWFS. I was there brainstorming with some of the biggest brands in our world about how to better package and share this climate-positive story for designers and consumers. I approached the booth of a supplier I wasn’t familiar with and said, “Hey, are you guys getting questions about the sustainability of your materials? Do you need help telling a better story?”

The response stunned me: “Oh, my territory is Texas. If you say something is bad for the environment, they say, ‘I’ll take two!’”

That’s the whiplash I alluded to earlier. Now, I have no idea if this salesperson was being facetious, but I do know I’m not the only one who has heard this kind of response. I moderated a panel discussion at AWFS called “The Carbon Denominator: If You Build With Wood, You Already Have the Best Sustainability Story in the World.” My five-star panelists were Andy O’Hare, president of the Composite Panel Association; Betsy Natz, CEO of the KCMA; Doug Sharpiro, VP of Research and Insights at OFS Brands; and Jon Strassner, CSO of the American Society of Interior Designers. (Jon has since launched his own sustainability consulting firm.)

Betsy and Andy shared some great research and insights that I plan to cover in the near future, but I wanted to leave you with some provocative insights from Jon and Doug. And I hope to see you at the Executive Briefing Conference in September, where the conversation continues.

Jon Strassner: Designers still think there’s a more sustainable alternative to wood
“So, designers are now starting to think a lot about what they put in their spaces. But the problem is that wood isn’t in their vernacular right now. They’re not thinking about composites, right? They’re not thinking about, ‘What is the environmental impact if I put all these composite panels in this space?’

“In fact, if you said to them, ‘You have a choice, you can put wood in here, or you can find another environmental material that’s better than wood,’ they would look really long and hard to find an alternate to wood.”

Doug Shapiro: Untold story
“Once upon a time, in a lush forest with rolling hills, stood a tree named Oakley. It was tall and proud, knowing its purpose should extend far beyond its life as a tree. As Oakley grew, it tirelessly absorbed carbon dioxide from the air converting it into life-sustaining oxygen. After 100 years of hard work, Oakley was done. He had become a magnificent carbon sink, storing over 10,000 lbs. of naturally captured carbon.

“However, a conflict emerged.One group, led by Mr. Thornfield, passionately believed that Oakley should be left to grow old and decay, arguing that it was the natural course of life for a tree. They viewed cutting it down as an act of destruction. This group didn’t know letting Oakley decay would release the stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

“Finally, the community reached a consensus based on science. The time had come to harvest Oakley and preserve Oakley’s lifetime of hard work.

“Oakley’s wood was transported to Walter’s woodshop. In a twist of fate, Thornfield’s daughter was expecting a child. Walter crafted a beautiful baby crib. Thornfield finally understood the importance of Oakley’s harvest and legacy, realizing that by transforming the tree’s wood into something useful, its carbon would remain sequestered and put to good use for generations to come.

“And through the empty space where Oakley used to grow, sunlight streamed down on a brand new Oakley Jr. that was just beginning its own 100-year journey.”