Sustainability

In 1998 the Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council adopted the Sustainability Accords and a Vision of Sustainability, which were then endorsed by a wide range of citizens, elected officials and practitioners. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission consistently applies these Accords to guide its projects and activities. The Piedmont Sustainable Woods initiative is a fundamentally important project that continues to bring the Accords into fruition.

More specifically the Piedmont Sustainable Woods project will accomplish many of the objectives under the Agriculture and Forestry Accords:

  • To encourage the development of local businesses and industries that create finished goods from local agricultural and forestry products and by-products
  • To make buying locally a more convenient and available option for consumers of agricultural and forest products
  • To broaden the practice of sustainable forestry among loggers and landowners
  • To maintain or improve, wherever possible, the quality and long-term productivity of timber for use as wood products

At every stage, Piedmont Sustainable Woods expects to be sustainable by:

  • Improving the health and economic viability of forestland by preparing and enacting a forestry management plan
  • Using renewable energy sources to power the wood processing center. While a long way from being settled, the Exploratory Committee is looking into the old Ivy Landfill site as a location for the wood processing center. Not only would this put the land back into productive use but the power of the methane gas now being flared off into the atmosphere could be harnesses to operate key components of the center.
  • Employ local woodworkers for the production of the finished product
  • Marketing and selling locally and regionally. Given that a similar project, the Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) project based in Abingdon, Virginia, cannot consistently meet the present demand for customers in Central Virginia, the prospects for PSW look very good.
  • Reducing travel time and costs for the shipping of products to market. The shipping distance between ASD and central Virginia is about 240 miles. This distance adds not only to energy costs but also to their ability to respond to their customers. The major clients are reputable custom home builders whose needs can quickly change. Not having the ability to deliver extra material with short notice to these builders can delay their construction projects. Also, ASD frequently receives unsolicited requests from the Richmond and Washington metro areas, most of which they cannot serve. These markets are only about 100 miles away and at least four hours closer to shipping time for PSW as compared to ASD.
  • Embodied Energy refers to the quantity of energy required to manufacture, and supply to the point of use, a product, material or service. For example, bamboo flooring manufactured and shipped from China (even though bamboo is a quickly renewable resource), embodies much more energy, primarily through the long shipping distance needed to bring the product to Central Virginia. The embodied energy of PSW products will be very low in comparison.

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