Authors: ​Benjamin Roe, Ivan Eastin, Indroneil Ganguly, Daisuke Sasatani Executive SummaryReports that a substantial proportion of wood raw materials, used by Chinese and Vietnamese manufacturers, are from illegal sources have drawn concern from major consumer countries who recently implemented timber legality regulations. These regulations, which include the Japanese ‘Goho-wood’ policy, the U.S. Lacey Act, the EU […]

Authors: ​Daisuke Sasatani, Indroneil Ganguly, Ivan Eastin, Cindy X. Chen and C. Tait Bowers ​Executive SummaryThe overall goal of this study was to develop a better understanding of US residential homebuilders’ and remodelers’ perceptions and use of Green Building Programs (GBPs), Environmentally Certified Wood Products (ECWPs), construction materials (i.e., wood, steel and concrete), and other innovative […]

Authors: ​Ivan Eastin and Daisuke Sasatani ​Executive SummarySince 1970, Japan has increasing relied on imports to meet its domestic demand for wood products. This reliance on imported wood has always caused a certain tension in Japan where forests cover two-thirds of the country. This tension is caused by the fact that along with the plentiful supply […]

Authors: ​Ivan Eastin, and E.E. Mawhinney Executive SummaryAfter the Kobe earthquake in 1995, the Japanese Government introduced a series of changes to improve the integrity of new homes. Part of the changes included a rating system designed to indicate the potential for formaldehyde off-gassing by a variety of primary and value-added wood products. Excessive off-gassing of […]

Author: ​Ivan Eastin Executive SummaryJapan is a timber deficit country that requires substantial volumes of imported timber to meet its domestic demand for wood. To a large degree, wood demand in Japan is tied to housing starts where approximately 43% of new homes are framed with wood. This reliance on imported wood has always caused a […]

Authors: ​Indroneil Ganguly and Ivan Eastin ​Executive SummaryThe economic liberalization policies initiated in 1991 have led India along the path of increased economic growth and greater macroeconomic stability. Real GDP growth averaged 6% over the period 1997-2001, exceeded 8% from 2002-2005 and is projected to be about 9.2% in 2006. This rapid economic growth has been […]

Authors: ​Yuan Yuan and Ivan Eastin Executive SummaryForest certification is becoming an important issue within the forest products industry and also a new trend in forest products markets. Although forest certification was initiated to confront the severe deforestation of tropical rain forests, certified forests are unbalanced in geographical locations, with 60% of certified forests being located […]

Authors: ​Jeff Cao, Rose Braden and Ivan Eastin Executive SummaryIn recent years, China has become a vital market for many US wood exporters. Now the fourth largest export destination for US wood products, exports from the US to China have increased an average of 30 percent per year over the past 10 years. From 1999-2004, US […]

Authors: John Perez-Garcia, J. Kent Barr and Hideaki Kubota Executive SummaryForests play three central roles in the carbon cycle. Forests act as sinks and sources of carbon. Second, harvested wood products (HWP) from forests store carbon over their life cycle. Third, wood products conserve fossil fuels through energy substitution and by their lower fossil-fuel usage during […]

Author: ​Jun Fukuda Executive SummarySince the early 1980s, the US has worked to persuade Japan to open its wood products market to US products through various channels including bilateral talks, multilateral negotiations, and regional alliances. In response, Japan has reluctantly liberalized and deregulated its wood products imports through tariff reductions, building standards revisions, and foreign product […]