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.

You may have seen recent coverage in Canadian Wood Products and the LBM Journal that point to reasons as to why the US Green Building Council should open the LEED rating system. As the single largest forest certification standard in the world, SFI is committed to promoting responsible forest management in North America and responsible fiber sourcing worldwide. We think opening LEED is a crucial step in advancing responsible forestry and strengthening green building in the U.S. and Canada.

SFI Canadian Wood Products Editor Bill Tice states, “The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) is taking a leadership role and has been the most outspoken when it comes to raising awareness that the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system needs to recognize all credible certification programs.” He also points out that we’re not alone, listing significant support from Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, National Association of State Foresters President Steven Koehn, Mother Nature Network Director of Environmental Affairs Chuck Leavell and Society of American Foresters President Michael Goergen, among others.

In the LBM Journal article titled “SFI vs. FSC”, John Wagner brings up another valid point in regards to inclusivity. “Does the freezing out of SFI (and other standards) foster greener, more sustainably harvested lumber and wood fiber? No, it doesn’t.” At SFI, we believe that in order to better promote and increase green building projects, as well as benefit the North American economy, LEED must open their standard to all credible forest certification standards.

I want to thank you for your continued efforts dedicated to advancing the USGBC’s policy to one that recognizes multiple forest certification standards including SFI. With changes to LEED being decided in coming weeks, we encourage you to voice support now more than ever. Circulate articles like those previously mentioned to those who support green building and the forestry community. Encourage friends and colleagues to sign the petition if they haven’t already. As we engage in the USGBC process, we want to ensure we do everything we can to make sure USGBC voters and the general public have accurate information about our program.

In the final installment of the blog series about SFI’s LEED statements, I wanted to discuss how agencies, governments, and rating systems worldwide have embraced inclusive forest certification policies. Many organizations recognize multiple certification standards.

U.S. and Canadian government procurement agencies support an inclusive stance. For the U.S. General Services Administration, SFO Section 7.4 Wood Products states, “For all new installations of wood products, the Lessor is encouraged to use independently certified forest products. For information on certification and certified wood products, refer to the Forest Certification Resource Center, the Forest Stewardship Council United States, or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.” In Canada, Public Works & Government Services requires all wood products used in its building projects to be certified to one of the three certification programs that operate in Canada: SFI, the Canadian Standards Association or FSC. The department believes all three programs effectively promote more sustainable management of Canada’s forest resources.

Forestry agencies, such as the U.S. National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers, also support recognizing all credible forest certification programs. A 2008 NASF resolution declares “there is no single ‘best’ forest certification program.” The Canadian Institute of Forestry and the Society of American Foresters also support this stance.

Green building tools across the globe also have inclusive stances, and many recognize SFI, FSC and other credible standards. The Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes™ green building assessment and rating system promotes building practices for commercial construction.  The program has done a great job increasing the awareness of environmental issues among the building community and is helping to design buildings that are energy efficient and resourceful with building materials. For residential construction, the National Green Building Standard, the first green building rating system to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), offers resources and tools to help the building community and homeowners build green.

Finally, BREEAM (United Kingdom), Built Green Colorado™ and CASBEE (Japan) also recognize multiple forest certification standards, including SFI. The Green Building Council of Australia recently ended its FSC- only preference.

It’s clear organizations that value green building are coming around to what makes sense for responsible forestry and the economy.  The trade media has weighed in too – Robert Cassidy, editor-in-chief of Building, Design + Construction, wrote an editorial discussing why the USGBC should open LEED. Additionally, the LBM Journal published an article by John Wagner that encouraged LEED take a more inclusive stance. We hope the U.S. Green Building Council follows the lead of other groups that provide guidance to consumers and businesses and opens LEED to other credible forest certification standards. As we wait for a decision, find the latest information regarding the LEED issue on our website.

Yesterday I talked about how giving credit only to FSC-certified wood discriminates against North American wood for LEED projects. Today’s post discusses the widespread support shown by the forest community and government leaders to open the LEED standard.

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.

Two major North American groups representing forestry experts have weighed in with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) on the LEED standard.  Steven Koehn, president of the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), recently wrote a letter to USGBC CEO & Founding Chairman Rick Fedrizzi stating that the revised standard should:

The NASF is comprised of directors of forestry agencies across the U.S. and promotes forest conservation and sustainable forestry.

Additionally, Mr. Fedrizzi has received a letter urging LEED to be more inclusive from the Canadian Institute of Forestry. The organization also put out a press release about the LEED issue. President Anne LeBrun Ruff and Executive Director John F. Pineau state,

“Even though Canada has over 40% of the certified land globally, only 10% of the world’s forests are certified. Yet private and some government agencies are still splitting hairs over specific aspects of forest management certification systems. In doing this, the focus on the overall goal of sustainable management is lost. Each standard has a different background and assesses planning and practices in a slightly different way. However, the end result of sustainably managed forests is the same, which leads us to the issue at hand.”

They also make the vital point that wood is a smart choice for green building, yet many of its positive aspects are not recognized in the LEED rating system.

I’m pleased that the NASF and Canadian Institute of Forestry have taken a stand on the LEED issue. At SFI, we hope Mr. Fedrizzi and the rest of the USGBC listen to what the rest of the forestry community already knows—an inclusive stance better supports responsible forestry.