{"id":18710,"date":"2012-03-06T22:50:39","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T22:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/162.217.168.59\/?p=18710"},"modified":"2023-03-22T16:22:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T20:22:16","slug":"leeds-artificial-barriers-continue-to-fail-responsible-forestry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forests.org\/fr\/leeds-artificial-barriers-continue-to-fail-responsible-forestry\/","title":{"rendered":"LEED\u2019s Artificial Barriers Continue to Fail Responsible Forestry"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON<\/strong> \u2013 The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) continues to put up artificial barriers in its latest\u00a0draft of its LEED rating tool, shutting out 75 percent of North America\u2019s certified forests from the LEED\u00a0credits that deal with \u201cresponsible extraction of raw materials.\u201d The third draft of LEED 2012, released on\u00a0March 1, includes credits for certified wood that is \u201cFSC or better\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new language raises more issues than it resolves: Who will decide what is \u2018better than FSC\u2019 and on what\u00a0basis?\u201d said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of Sustainable Forestry Initiative\u00ae Inc. (SFI\u00ae). \u201cSFI clearly has\u00a0requirements that are not matched by FSC standards, a fact that continues to go unrecognized by the USGBC,\u00a0despite more than 6,000 people globally and more than 100 government officials across North America urging\u00a0the USGBC not to turn its back on North American forests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently LEED only recognizes forests certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which account for\u00a0about one quarter of North America\u2019s certified forests. The rest are certified to three independent standards in\u00a0use across North America \u2013 SFI, Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and American Tree Farm System\u00a0(ATFS), all of which are endorsed by the international Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification\u00a0(PEFC).<\/p>\n

\u201cSFI is a strong advocate for green building and for all credible forest certification,\u201d said Abusow. \u201cWith 90\u00a0percent of the world\u2019s forests not certified to any standard, it\u2019s time to break down LEED\u2019s artificial barriers\u00a0and raise understanding of forest certification and the important role it can play in green building.\u201d\u00a0Abusow said there is independent evidence that SFI standards are as effective as FSC standards, and exceed\u00a0them in many areas \u2013 such as research, support for family forest owners, use of best management practices and\u00a0logger training. SFI also accepts fiber from forests certified to CSA and ATFS, which is important to workers\u00a0and resource communities throughout North America.<\/p>\n

Ignoring these important distinguishing attributes of the SFI program means that a FSC policy in LEED may\u00a0result in building professionals seeking LEED certification points to purchase wood and paper products from\u00a0overseas, as evidenced by FSC\u2019s own 2010 Business Value and Growth market survey (page 6) which found:\u00a0\u201cNearly half of respondents have sought out an alternative supplier in another country when FSC certified\u00a0timber or products were not available in their own country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Builders who want to support North American forests, communities and jobs can choose a green buildingprogram which recognizes all credible forest certification standards, which include the new International Green\u00a0Construction Code, ANSI\/ICC 700-2008: National Green Building Standard, ANSI-GBI 01-2010 Green\u00a0Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings, Built Green Canada, BREEAM (United Kingdom)\u00a0and CASBEE (Japan).<\/p>\n

The LEED rating system is also raising concern among public officials and politicians. In December 2011,\u00a0Maine Governor Paul LePage signed an executive order directing that new or expanded state buildings\u00a0incorporate green building tools that give equal credit to products certified to SFI, FSC, ATFS and PEFCendorsed\u00a0standards. This order would exclude LEED as long as it recognizes only FSC.<\/p>\n

Abusow urged supporters of forest certification to vote no and send USGBC a message that it is time to accept\u00a0all forest certification programs if LEED cares about responsible forestry. The LEED Rating System Third\u00a0Public Comment Period is open until March 20, 2012, and comments can be submitted through\u00a0www.usgbc.org\/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2360. At the end of the review period, USGBC members will\u00a0vote on the final draft.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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