Nadine Block, who focuses on Government Outreach for SFI, gives an overview of the Hill Briefings held in mid-June.

Last month SFI participated in briefings on Capitol Hill, and a remarkable panel helped bring awareness to forest certification, wood as an ideal building material, and the importance of opening LEED to all credible forest certification programs. The briefing was a part of High-Performance Building Week, a perfect opportunity to talk about issues surrounding wood and green building.

Briefing panelists included 2009 National Tree Farmers of the Year Earl and Wanda Barrs, CEO of the Society of American Foresters Michael Goergen, President of the National Association of State Foresters Steven Koehn and union representative Bill Street.

Several themes emerged during the briefings:

Some of our panelists recorded a few thoughts I thought would be interesting to share:

Earl Barrs, Gully Branch Tree Farm, 2009 National Tree Farmer of the Year

“One reason we have forest land in Georgia is because we’ve always had good markets, and it’s important we continue to have good markets … We’re doing all the conservation environmental stewardship and we’re doing all the things that make a forest sustainable.”

Wanda Barrs, Gully Branch Tree Farm, 2009 National Tree Farmer of the Year

“If we don’t have healthy markets, then the likelihood of our family farm surviving the next generation transfer is highly unlikely. The quality of life and conservation values – air quality, clean water, recreation, wildlife, recreation – can be lost if there are no markets.”

Michael Goergen, CEO of Society of American Foresters

“There are many different forest certification systems, and the value of having these certification systems is they improve each other … They’re pushing each other to improve their standards all the time. They’re using better science. They’re getting better information, and they’re improving forest management on the ground.”

Hear more of what Earl, Wanda and Michael had to say on SFI’s YouTube channel.

We feel energized from the feedback and interest we got on the Hill, and we plan to continue outreach to key officials. You can help too! Urge the USGBC to open its LEED rating system. Show support for increased certification by signing our petition, as well as passing along our green building video to friends and family.

Jason Metnick, SFI Senior Director of Market Access and Product Labeling, notes several groups agree with SFI — USGBC should recognize SFI and other forest certification standards.

Craig Webb recently wrote an article for ProSales outlining the benchmark changes and why various organizations don’t feel the current draft properly addresses forest certification issues. Yesterday Dovetail, a non-profit organization that works to remote responsible environmental behavior, issued a press release expressing their disappointment in USGBC’s benchmarks.

“The drawn-out forest certification benchmark revision process could, and should, have focused on development of a generic benchmark standard for construction materials in general,” notes Dr. Jim Bowyer, Director of the Responsible Materials Program within Minneapolis-based Dovetail Partners.

SFI believes the benchmarks, like the one currently proposed could result in never ending revisions, assessments and evaluations year after year with no clear results. We know the USGBC can do better, which is why we’ve urged USGBC leaders to listen to elected officials, government agencies, professional foresters, and others who are telling them to end the discrimination against North American forests and accept wood certified to all forest certification standards used in North America – SFI, FSC, CSA, ATFS and PEFC.

I encourage you to continue to follow the latest updates and show your support. Sign our petition and watch our green building movie if you haven’t already done so.

Jason Metnick, SFI Senior Director of Market Access and Label Use, provides an update on LEED benchmarks.

As you may have seen, the USGBC recently requested comments on a fourth round of draft benchmarks to evaluate forest certification programs in its LEED green building rating system. SFI has cautioned the USGBC that a process like the one currently proposed could result in never ending revisions, assessments and evaluations year after year with no clear results.  We believe it is time for USGBC’s leadership to end this process and give credit for wood use and forest certification standards.  SFI strongly supports green building, and we believe SFI and other credible certification programs are a clear fit for green building rating systems.  Wood from responsibly-managed forests, like those certified to the SFI Standard, is an excellent choice for any new construction or renovation.  Wood is renewable, it sequesters carbon and is powered by solar energy.  These factors, coupled with wood’s desirable aesthetic and structural characteristics, make it a great choice for green buildings.  We therefore suggest that the USGBC should:

USGBC leaders should listen to elected officials, government agencies, professional foresters, and others who are telling them to end the discrimination against North American forests and accept wood certified to all forest certification standards used in North America – SFI, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

It’s not too late to show your support and urge the USGBC to sunset the forest certification benchmarks.  Please sign our petition, and check out our short green building video.  Also, please forward the petition and video to friends and family who care about the future of North American forests.  You can find more information about the comment period on the USGBC’s website, and you can check out our public statement regarding the fourth round of public comments on SFI’s website.

Nadine Block, who focuses on Government Outreach for SFI,  has an exciting update about more government support for opening LEED.

The four co-chairs of the Congressional Timber Caucus recently sent a powerful letter to the USGBC advocating for the organization to reverse its exclusive LEED policy. Representatives Kevin Brady (R-TX), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Mike Ross (D-AR) urged the USGBC to open LEED in order to stop the discrimination against North American wood products and recognize wood as a responsible, renewable choice for green building.

They stated, “If the status quo remains unchanged, and SFI and ATFS wood products are not recognized, we believe many LEED builders will turn away reputable third-party SFI and ATFS certified wood which is grown locally and instead turn to FSC certified wood, the large majority of which is grown in other countries. Wood projects should be treated equally with other building products, such as steel and concrete, which are not required to have third-party environmental certification in order to receive a credit.”

At SFI, we agree. I continue to ask you to demand change. Sign the petition and ask your family, friends and colleagues to do the same. Change in LEED is crucial for the future of green building and forest certification.

Coming off the heels of the USGBC Federal Summit, we’re as excited as ever to raise awareness of SFI and the program’s role in green building. We continue to garner support for changes to LEED, and government officials continue to back our stance. Last week, Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter wrote a letter to the USGBC discussing the benefits of opening LEED.

The governor states that under the LEED rating system, “bamboo from China and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified wood from Russia and Brazil would be certified, whereas only some of Idaho’s wood would be certified.”

We agree with his point—when the LEED rating tools exclude the majority of certified wood from counting towards the LEED wood certification credit, that’s a problem. Currently, the USGBC only recognizes FSC for the forest certification credit. We need to ensure wood from the U.S. and Canada certified to SFI, CSA, ATFS, and PEFC gets equal recognition with offshore wood certified to FSC. The USGBC is in a process to review this credit; however, it is a lengthy process, and while we spend years waiting it out, the majority of well-managed and certified wood from the U.S. and Canada is discriminated against in the USGBC’s LEED rating system.

Governor Otter’s letter also says “Under the draft benchmarks, much of the nearly 20 million acres of Idaho’s public and private forest land would not qualify for LEED credits. The draft ignores the fact that Idaho’s State and privately held timber lands are harvested under a Forest Practices Act provision requiring use of nationally recognized Best Management Practices (including mandatory protection of Streamside Maintenance Zones) and semi-annual interagency audits which are made public.”

SFI agrees with this statement and has suggested to the USGBC in past written comments that the USGBC needs to give wood a credit for being wood, a renewable resource. If wood has gone through the rigorous third party certification process that standards such as SFI, CSA, ATFS and FSC offer, then an extra LEED credit should be given.

You can read the governor’s letter in full on our website, where you can also see the other letters of support. If you haven’t already, sign the petition and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same!