Members of Congress have joined with 10 U.S. governors, adding their voices to the thousands calling for an open LEED rating system.  A bipartisan letter signed by 79 members of the House of Representatives was sent to Mr. Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, urging the USGBC to “expedite the review of forest management certification systems and to accept all credible forest management certification systems for qualification under the LEED rating system.”  The effort was initiated by Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), both members of the House Agriculture Committee, which oversees forestry issues.  The letter brings to light that if the LEED rating system maintains the status quo and does not recognize the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), many builders who seek LEED certification will be discouraged from using SFI and ATFS-certified products grown in the United States.

The letter began to gather support in mid-June just as we finished up with two successful briefings on Capitol Hill and as the USGBC opened a fourth round of draft benchmarks evaluating the forest certification programs in its LEED rating system.

In addition to Congressional support, nearly 6,000 people have signed a petition to open LEED, and 10 U.S. governors – representing Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oregon, Virginia and Washington – have written letters to the USGBC to voice their concerns over the current approach to wood product certification.

With many members of Congress active in forestry issues and representing districts with acres of forest lands, this topic received broad support.  They understand the value of wood in green building. At SFI, we believe wood products should be given a LEED credit for being a durable, renewable resource, and additional credit should be given for credible third-party certified wood, including SFI, ATFS, CSA, FSC and PEFC. The voice of elected officials and policy-makers is crucial in encouraging responsible forest management and ensuring that all forest certification systems play a credible role in this process.

Check out a copy of the letter and a press release about the mounting pressure to open LEED, which are available on our website.

Today SFI delivered nearly 6,000 petition signatures and hundreds of comments to President, CEO & Founding Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council Rick Fedrizzi urging the organization to open LEED. Our petition helps demonstrate what we already suspected—there’s a broad base of supporters who are deeply committed and passionate about responsible forest management, green building and the communities that depend on these forests.

The road through the USGBC review process has not been short or uncomplicated, and in the end, we hope the organization gets past its outdated process and the politics around the LEED forest certification policy. Inclusiveness is the answer. It’s what other green building programs and codes globally already have applied. Multiple forest certification programs push each other to do better, and they serve different needs.

One-fifth of all U.S. governors have written letters in support of opening LEED. Professional societies including the National Association of State Foresters, the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers and the Society of American Foresters have released statements urging the USGBC to change its policy.

The USGBC needs to focus on the facts and create a program that recognizes the value of wood as a green building material and all the benefits credible forest certification programs bring.  Considering the staggering number of responses in the petition, along with broad support from respected forestry experts, conservation groups and government officials, our common vision should be impossible to ignore.

For the sake of our forests, our communities, the tens of thousands of family foresters who make their livelihoods from forestry and the future of green building across North America and globally, it is time for USGBC to do the right thing and recognize all credible forest certification standards: SFI, ATFS, CSA, FSC and PEFC.

Now is not the time to let up. Show support for increased certification by signing our petition, as well as passing along our green building video to friends and family. If you’re a voting member of USGBC, vote against the current benchmarks. Ask the USGBC to accept all credible forest certification standards. Do what’s best for our forests here in North America and globally.

Thank you for your ongoing support of this important initiative!

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.

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!

SFI and FSC are both respected independent, non-profit charitable organizations. Both groups have third-party audits and have equal representation from environmental, social and economic chambers. Both protect endangered species and water quality. Both are promoting responsible forestry. SFI was specifically developed to advance sustainable forestry in North America, while FSC was developed in response to concerns over global deforestation, particularly in the tropics and subtropics.

With similar goals and rigorous certification standards, it doesn’t make sense not to include both standards in the LEED rating system. In fact, LEED should include all credible certification programs including the American Tree Farm System, the Canadian Standards Association and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. We’re not alone in that thought. Several in the forestry community, as well as government officials, have spoken out:

Larry Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund (statement March 2010)
“Independent certification of sustainable forest management, such as that provided by the SFI program, is a powerful tool for ensuring these forests are managed well, and it is long past due for certification programs such as the USGBC to recognize the value of the SFI and its peers. The Conservation Fund has been involved in the SFI Program since its inception because we see the incredibly positive results on the ground – and we believe consumers increasingly are recognizing the power of SFI to drive good conservation in our nation’s private forests.”

Canadian Council of Forest Ministers, Chair Kathy Dunderdale (Dec. 2, 2009 letter to USGBC)
“The draft benchmarks recently circulated for comment are so detailed and prescriptive that they would likely exclude most credible forest certification programs – even including several regional, national or interim FSC standards currently recognized in LEED … The environmentally preferable, as well as administratively more manageable, solution is for the USGBC to recognize all credible forest certification programs, namely the Canadian Standards Association Z809 standard, the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and national standards around the world independently endorsed by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (Feb. 16, 2010 letter to USGBC)
“Recognizing only FSC-certified wood in the LEED benchmarks will result in discrimination against wood products derived from well-managed lands in green building projects. The USGBC should fairly assess and include all credible forest certification programs, including SFI and ATFS systems.

I urge you to quickly make a board decision to recognize well-managed wood from Minnesota and all credible forest certification programs. In doing so, USGBC can join other government agencies and green building rating programs in recognizing wood as an environmentally friendly building material.”

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire (Oct. 2, 2008 letter to USGBC)
“By recognizing internationally endorsed certification systems, the proposed changes in USGBC policy have the potential to include forest products from more than 800 certified family forest owners in our state. Many more small forest parcels can be included as certification systems bring more lands under recognized sustainable management practices. Forest products from 4.8 million acres of third party audited state and industrial forestlands also have the opportunity to be included for LEED rating points under proposed changes in USGBC policy.”

Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln (April 16, 2010)
“I appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Green Building Council to promote energy efficiency and environmental conservation in building design and construction. I have been disappointed to learn, however, that the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system discriminates against wood products produced in our own backyard and prohibits the two largest sustainable forest certification program in the U.S. – the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) – from gaining credit by recognizing only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood.”

As you may have seen, the National Association of State Foresters and Canadian Institute of Forestry have also shown their support with letters to the USGBC.

We’re grateful that these and other leaders see a strong value to including SFI and other third-party certification systems in the LEED rating system. You can find a broader list of supporting statements on our website. Additionally, we’ve gotten extensive support in the way of signatures and comments on the petition to open LEED. I’ll share some of these comments in tomorrow’s post. And as always, find the latest information regarding the LEED issue on our website.