Sustainability

US LBM’s product portfolio addresses approximately 60% of the average construction cost of a new home, providing custom home builders, national builders and specialty contractors with a wide variety of building materials, including specialty products that help minimize material waste during construction and help the end-user, in most instances the homeowner, reduce their energy use. These products include Low-E windows, insulation, housewrap, asphalt roofing shingles and composite decking.

We pride ourselves on working with industry suppliers who share our commitment to sustainability. Recognizing the critical role forests play both in our environment and US LBM’s product offering, we cultivate strategic partnerships with certified suppliers to ensure legal and sustainable sourcing of our wood products.

US LBM operates 46 truss and component manufacturing facilities across the country. According to the Structural Building Components Association (SCBA), structural building components creates 30 times less job site waste than traditional stick framing and uses an average of 25 percent less wood product. Our component manufacturing facilities utilize technology from leading developers in the industry to support sustainability in our truss manufacturing processes that improve our material estimation and cut accuracy, reducing waste and improving efficiency.

More than 550 vehicles in US LBM’s delivery fleet utilize Descartes Route Planner, which maximizes over the road truck use through integrated GPS-tracking to plan and adjust delivery routes to increase efficiency and decrease travel time. This technology continues to be deployed at our operating divisions, including acquisitions made in 2021 and 2022.

US LBM’s US 1 program exists to establish continuous improvement operating practices at all of the company’s operating divisions, with a focus on eliminating waste of time, activity or other resources. The US 1 program includes strategic interventions to optimize material flow through US LBM’s building material yards and distribution centers by removing transportation and motion waste, increasing efficient use of emitting vehicles and equipment, such as trucks, vans and forklifts. Over the past seven years, US LBM has run more than 300 of these projects enterprise wide.

US LBM is the first full line building products distributor in the US to participate in the United Nations Global Compact. The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative in which companies commit to aligning their business strategies and operations with 10 universal principles related to human rights, labor, anti-corruption and the environment. Currently more than 15,000 companies worldwide have joined the UN Global Compact.

In 2023, US LBM began work on additional sustainability pilot projects, including installation of a solar PV system and electrification of the forklift fleet at the company’s Rocklin, Calf. location. The solar project will generate approximately 290,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy annually. The company will also replace the existing forklift fleet at its Ridgefield, Conn. location with electric forklifts. When completed, the forklift projects will reduce the emissions produced by more than 61,000 gallons of fuel on an annual basis.