The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) has expanded the Living Building Challenge (LBC) and Declare into China this year, and Smith & Fong is one of the first eight manufacturers with Declare-labeled products in the China marketplace. According to the ILFI website:

“The Institute is pleased to announce there are now 8 manufacturers with Declare labeled products in China, 6 of them translated to Mandarin Chinese. 3 more have been submitted to the Institute for review and will be ready to be launched in the upcoming weeks.

“Given the incredible pace of development in China and the magnitude of mounting environmental damage, there is nowhere on earth where the potential for change is greater and the need more pressing.

“The past few months have seen a dramatic uptake in the growth of the LBC program in China. Last October the Institute led a weeklong workshop in Hawaii with the world’s third largest construction company, China State Construction Engineering Corporation. Subsequently two projects have registered in pursuit of the Challenge in China: The Natural Resource Defense Council Office in Beijing, and Glumac’s Shanghai office and are both on track to complete construction this summer.”

Read the rest of the post here.

The above-mentioned NRDC project in Beijing, which is seeking Living Building Challenge certification, specified Smith & Fong’s Declare-certified PlybooPure flooring and plywood. We’re very proud to be part of the LBC/Declare global expansion.