Wednesday, 01 October 2003
Rulon Company
Partner Profile- Ceilings for Green Buildings Everywhere
Rulon Company, of Brunswick, GA, a manufacturer specializing in suspended wood, uPVC ceiling systems and wall panels, has been a chain-of-custody certificate (COC) holder since March of 2001. The certification was conducted by Scientific Certification Systems.
Rulon first sought COC certification because they were seeing an increase in the number of architectural specifications requiring FSC certification. According to Clay Seale, production manager and FSC administrator for Rulon, they wanted to expand into this market and “in order to be competitive, we needed to have FSC capability."
Even if they hadn’t sold any FSC-certified products, Rulon thinks it is important to have COC certification to show their customers that they are committed to responsible forestry practices. As Seale put it, “it’s one more feather in our cap."
Seale said the market for Rulon’s FSC-certified products is growing even more rapidly in recent months, with the continually gaining popularity of the LEED program of the U.S. Green Building Council, which offers a credit for the use of FSC-certified wood products.
However, architectural specifications for the use of FSC-certified wood are quite popular even if it is not a LEED project. According to Seale, sometimes the use of FSC products can be cost prohibitive to the project and “unfortunately, then, the specification of FSC is the first thing to get value-engineered out. But this is diminishing day by day with additional supply coming on board. I can then pass the cost savings on to our consumers."
Any of Rulon’s solid wood products can be manufactured as FSC-certified, including linear style ceilings, panel grille ceilings, and wood cube ceilings. Rulon is also researching the possibilities of having a flat panel product with a veneer finish that could be certified under the percentage based claims category, and hopes to have this available to their customers as soon as possible.
Recent projects that have specified the use of FSC-certified wood from Rulon include the Osoyoos Border Crossing (border of U.S. and B.C., Canada) which required a 3500 sq. ft. ceiling, the science building at Seattle Pacific University which required a 2000 sq. ft. panel grille system using red oak and red cedar, and some newly renovated police stations in the city of Chicago.
For more information about Rulon Company, please visit www.rulonco.com.