The latest is Green Building Council Italia, which signed a protocol agreement (here is a link to an English translation) with PEFC Italy to promote the benefits of forest certification and the use of certified wood products in the building sector. You may recall that at the start of 2010, the Green Building Council of Australia began to give equal consideration in its Green Star rating tool to forest certification standards accepted by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) as well as FSC.

Italy and Australia join many respected green building rating systems that recognize certified wood as an excellent choice for green building. Others that offer credits for products certified to FSC, as well as PEFC-endorsed standards like SFI, include the ANSI/ICC 700-2008:National Green Building Standard, the ANSI-GBI 01-2010 Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings, Built Green Canada, Green Globes, CASBEE (Japan) and BREEAM (United Kingdom).

We are seeing growing evidence that there is widespread public and professional support for recognizing all credible forest certification standards – check out our newest fact sheet SFI: What Others are Saying. I am optimistic that this reality, when combined with the fact that U.S. Green Building Council members turned down a proposed LEED certification benchmark last year, means we can work with USGBC to find a way to recognize the value of wood and certification as a proof point of responsible forestry. You will find the latest news about USGBC, LEED and SFI on our update website.

In arriving at the decision to vote against the proposed benchmarks, we had to consider the fact that the USGBC made zero changes to the final version, despite the plethora of comments it received from SFI and others. Furthermore, the 81 detailed benchmarks represent an overly complicated set of criteria that no other building material is measured against. This is not a decision that we arrived at lightly or easily. We believe in the power of working with stakeholders to find solutions that promote responsible forestry and support our communities across North America. These ideas are the very essence of our own program. It was for these reasons we participated in each of the four rounds of comments on the USGBC benchmarks. The fact is, a process that is being criticized by all sides is not a “winning formula” – it means we need to find a different solution, one that can achieve broader buy-in.

There is a simpler solution, one suggested by forest sustainability experts like The National Association of State Foresters (NASF), whose members are responsible for public forestlands on behalf of current and future generations and who passed a resolution containing five key elements of credible forest certification systems.  NASF has urged the USGBC to consider these elements and “reward forest certification, not one brand, and show leadership by promoting certified wood as preferable to the vast majority of wood sourced from unknown sources.” We agree – with only 10% of the world’s forests certified, the USGBC should recognize the value of wood products from responsibly-managed forests and should recognize all credible forest certification standards: SFI, FSC, PEFC, CSA and ATFS. This is the solution supported by more than 6,000 people worldwide, including 99 Congressmen and Governors who urge the USGBC to recognize all credible forest certification standards in the wood certification credit and reward the use of domestic wood. The USGBC understandably must listen to the voices within their membership, but should also listen to a broader set of stakeholders, such as elected officials who are entrusted with the public good. With government-owned or occupied buildings making up close to one-third of all LEED projects, the government voice is one that should not be ignored.

USGBC President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi recently wrote “what makes leaders are the hard times and not the glory days.” How true. Making difficult decisions is never easy, and it certainly is difficult to diverge from a process that has taken five years and is still not complete.

We are ready and willing to work with the USGBC and other interests to find a sustainable and workable solution that recognizes the benefits of wood in green building and the proof point offered by forest certification. Until a solution is found, the building community can and should continue to use SFI-certified products in LEED buildings. By trading the one point available for certified products, they can demonstrate their pride and support for North American forests, communities, and jobs.

For information contact Jason Metnick at Jason.Metnick@sfiprogram.org.

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NASF -2008-7 Policy Statement Forest Certification as it Contributes to Sustainable Forestry, “Key Elements of Credible Forest Certification Systems, http://stateforesters.org/files/2008.Forest%20Certification.pdf

Last week, The Oregonian published an op-ed written by four leaders in Oregon’s forestry community, including State Forester Marvin Brown, who also serves as board chair for SFI. Other signatories include Clint Bentz, David Ford and Steve Wilson. These experts cite benefits for Oregon’s forests, the economy and green building in the state as reasons for supporting the presence of multiple forest certification programs.

They write, “With a lifetime of first-hand experience and extensive background in the application of forest certification programs in our state, we find it bewildering that the Green Building Council has not opened its LEED policy to all credible forest certification programs … In Oregon, our forests and communities benefit from the improvements resulting from the work of all organizations that certify sustainable forest practices.”

The piece also notes support for an inclusive LEED policy from Oregon Representatives Kurt Schrader, Greg Walden and David Wu, and Governor Ted Kulongoski.

We agree—with most of Oregon’s certified forest lands certified by SFI and programs SFI recognizes, such as ATFS, it’s imperative to open the policy to all credible forest certification programs. That’s a trend across the U.S. and Canada, where more than three quarters of our certified forests meet or are recognized by SFI. It’s also critical that the USGBC recognize wood’s superior environmental benefits and encourage the use of wood products in green building.

Read the piece in full, and check out our green building video if you haven’t already. You can see additional support for an inclusive LEED policy on our petition and website.

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in a series of radio interviews across the U.S. to explain the importance of opening LEED to all credible forest certification standards. The reporters and talk show hosts I spoke to were very engaged and concerned about the impact on their states. This was the case on stations from Arkansas to Michigan to Oregon to Mississippi, and places in between.

We want local forest owners to get a fair shake from the USGBC and be able to fully get credit for their certification to SFI, CSA or ATFS. Green building is expected to be a $140 billion dollar industry in the next three years. An unintended consequence of the USGBC’s current FSC-only policy is that because the majority of FSC’s certified lands are outside the U.S. and Canada, builders and architects may source from oversees to obtain the 1 certified wood credit under LEED, and say no to domestic products certified to SFI, ATFS and CSA. Obviously green building is an important part of the economy which makes opening the LEED rating system even more important to tree farmers, architects, builders and many more across North America.

It’s exciting to see more and more people take notice and support the movement to open LEED. Click on the play buttons below and take a listen to a few of the interviews.

Jason Metnick on the Lars Larson Show
Jason Metnick on the Lars Larson Show

Jason Metnick on Voices of Montana with Aaron Flint
Jason Metnick on Voices of Montana with Aaron Flint

Jason Metnick on the Mississippi State Network
Jason Metnick on the Mississippi State Network

Jason Metnick on KEX-AM
Jason Metnick on KEX-AM

Jason Metnick on Timber Talk, KZHE-FM
Jason Metnick on Timber Talk, KZHE-FM

The call for a change in the LEED standard is truly global.  Twelve nations have urged USGBC to end LEED’s discrimination against wood and accept all credible forest certification standards.

In a July 22nd press release, the international non-profit Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), a leading umbrella organization that endorses national forest certification systems, stated:  “Standards from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Slovak Republic, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with forest industry associations and companies from many of these countries, have joined North American elected and government officials, professional foresters and other leaders who have told USGBC that  in order to increase the use of wood in buildings, all credible certification systems, including PEFC and FSC, need to be accepted.”

Approximately 543 million acres are certified to national standards endorsed by PEFC- including 377 million acres in North America alone- none of which are recognized by the USGBC’s LEED standard.

Several of these same countries, along with others, accounted for the more than 5,800 signatures on SFI’s online petition that was delivered to USGBC’s President and CEO, Rick Fedrizzi, Thursday, July 15th.

USGBC must do the right thing.  It is not just North America.  The whole world is watching.