Summary of the Report for the International Seminar on Goho-Wood 2012 (Part 1)(Wood suppliers' side)

Name

Koichi SatoTitle

Secretariat

Organization name

Ibaraki Morikaraie-Housing Network

1.Brief introduction of the organization
Establishment: March 1, 2012
Purpose of the association: (1) To provide regional housing trusted by consumers; (2) To conserve theregional forest and dwelling environment; (3) To ensure the proliferation of excellent
long-lasting houses and to enhance construction techniques; (4) To develop successors of theorganization according to the abovementioned purposes; and (5) To establish wood
circulation systems from upstream to downstream.
Number of members: 126 companies
Log market: 3 companies, sawmillers: 15 companies, precut factories: 5 companies,
distribution: 33 companies, design: 10 companies, construction: 79 companies. (Total does
not match because one company operates in multiple fields.)
Major activities: Holds various kinds of training seminars and workshops (for members). Provides
housing information to consumers via a website.

2. Outline of measures for the utilization of Goho-wood
Delivery of the wood to "Ibaraki wood using campaign" (An activity conducted by Ibamoku Co., Ltd,
which is the administrative body of the network).
Perzentation of pillars to customer: A system to donate pillar wood worth a maximum of 200,000 yen
to houses constructed by the traditional wooden method in Ibaraki Prefecture (asystem unique to Ibaraki Prefecture). Granted to 450 houses in FY2012(including 150 houses for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake).
Examples of grant conditions: Delivered by a company authorized as a
"Goho-wood Supplier" located in Ibaraki Prefecture. Amount of Goho-woodutilized in the structure should be 50% or more, etc.
Delivery of wood to public property: To deliver "wood produced in Ibaraki Prefecture" (Goho-wood)
to public property (elementary and junior high schools, etc.) constructed inIbaraki Prefecture based on the "Law regarding Promotion of Wood Utilizationin Public Buildings, etc."35

3. Background of measures for the utilization of Goho-wood
Adopted for the FY2012 Subsidy Programs of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism, "Regional Residence Branding Program" (First period)

Conditions for the adoption of the "Regional Branding Program" (First period)(1) Volume of Goho-wood
By utilizing the Goho-wood certification system, this association set the following criteria: the use ofGoho-wood for at least 90% of the structure materials

In addition to this, this association added theobligatory provision for setting a quantity of Goho-wood used for secondary structure materials(Total number of "tsubo" for the building *0.05 ㎥/ number of "tsubo", or more)
We established a system to supply Goho-wood to houses provided by member builders, by requiring
all types of wood-treating businesses (log market, sawmills, precut factories, distributors) to bemember companies of the Goho-wood certification system.

(2)Utilization of "Kizukai CO2 fixation certification system" conducted by the Japan Wood YouthGroup Association.
The total volume of delivered Goho-wood (the structure materials and secondary structure materialsonly) to each house for the subsidy is calculated according to the rule of the CO2 fixation certification
system, and the calculated results will be evaluated by a third party.
We demonstrate our environmental protection efforts to the building owners and customers byexpressing numerically the "quantity of CO2 fixed" by the relevant house.

(3)Utilization of CASBEE house - newly built (B+ or more)
CASBEE, sponsored by the Institute for Building Environment and Energy Conservation (IBEC), is asystem to “comprehensively evaluate the quality of buildings including the comfortableness of therooms and concern for the landscape by assessing and rating the buildings in terms of environmental
performance," which cannot normally be assessed with excellent long-lasing houses.
The objective of our house building is clearly shown to the building owners and consumers by using
the numerical figures obtained by rating (calculating) the "environmental performance" of the house.

In addition to these, there are many other conditions.

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4. Requests on the supplier's side
Though the use of Goho-wood of this association was limited to the "structure materials and secondary
structure materials" in this adopted program, we are aiming to limit all deliverable wood including
wood fixtures and interior/exterior furnishing wood to Goho-wood in the future.
To realize this aim:
Regarding domestic wood: establish a system to show the log producing district on sawn wood (in thecase of the log market in Ibaraki Prefecture), because logs having different producing districts are
mixed for sale after being classified into grades in order to lower the cost when being sold at the log
market (a log distribution center where loggers auction wood to sawmillers).
Regarding imported wood: establish a system to simply retrieve Goho-wood authorization
information, such as SGEC, FSC, PEFC and CoC forest certification, at the time consumers anddesigners select the imported wood.

5.

Challenges and problems to be solved

To improve the organization of this Housing Network so as to contribute to the regional housing
industry by accumulating our experience and achievements in the future, because it has not been longsince the association was established.

To become an "information center of residential construction" by positively informing the objective of
our association to consumers (especially the citizens of Ibaraki Prefecture).

To improve our knowledge, technical ability, and ability to cope with various conditions and futurenational measures (Energy Saving Act, low carbon houses, etc.) by making efforts to become atrustworthy organization chosen by the owners (consumers).

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