When the credit states that..."These components include at a minimum, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, sub-flooring, wood doors and finishes." Does this include pre-engineered wood trusses? I am working with a contractor who believe this language does not include his trusses. I am not so sure.
He also is saying that he doesn't believe he can get wood trusses in FSC wood. I haven't had much interaction with this question because we don't work on a lot of projects using wood roof structures. Any thoughts?
Doug Pierce, AIA
Architect / Sustainability StrategistPerkins+Will
235 thumbs up
April 9, 2012 - 11:36 am
Hi Kory - In my opinion, pre-engineered wood trusses qualify as 'structural framing.' They are clearly a permanent part of the building and they should be included in the MR 7 calculations.
Not having an FSC Certified fabricator in your region would be the most likely issue in sourcing FSC Certified wood trusses. Sourcing FSC certified dimensional lumber is typically not a problem - so assuming the trusses are being constructed from common lumber sizes and grades, it doesn't seem like material access should be an issue for the fabricator (although it might be if the dimensional lumber has to be a premium grade).
The wood truss manufacturer would need to be FSC certified so they can participate in the FSC Chain-of-Custody (COC) system and provide FSC Certified 'assemblies' to the project which will be required to meet the LEED MR 7 credit criteria.
You may want to do a little sleuthing to see what's available in the project area.
Doug