The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened the ballot for its Forest Certification Benchmark, a standard against which all forest certification systems will be evaluated to determine whether they can earn points in the LEED green building certification system. The contentious benchmark has drawn opposition from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and 14 prominent environmental groups.
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened the ballot for its Forest Certification Benchmark, a standard against which all forest certification systems will be evaluated to determine whether they can earn points in the LEED green building certification system. The contentious benchmark has drawn opposition from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and 14 prominent environmental groups.
Currently, only wood products certified by the FSC can garner points in LEED, the most visible green building standard in the world. In a press release, the FSC called the proposed benchmark "a big step backward." Specifically, FSC believes the new standard is not as rigorous as FSC criteria regarding balanced governance, member-elected boards, deforestation, plantations and rare, threatened and endangered species protections. "Standards set by FSC should represent the floor, not the ceiling," said Corey Brinkema, president of the FSC in the U.S.
Environmental groups-including the Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, ForestEthics, Rainforest Action Network, and National Resources Defense Council-also oppose the benchmark. In an open letter, these groups said the benchmark "represents a significant retreat from the level of performance in the current reference standard, that of the Forest Stewardship Council."
SFI, which has lobbied extensively to have its own standard accepted under LEED, also opposes the new standards. In a New York Times blog, Kathy Abusow, president of SFI, said the group was "far from pleased" with the new standard and that "There's just way too many hoops to jump through for just one credit."
NWFA Executive Director/CEO Ed Korczak said, "NWFA supports the expansion of certified forestry and supports maintaining the high forest recognition standards set by the USGBC."
Voting on the proposed changes is open to a consensus group of USGBC members until Nov. 24; results should be announced shortly afterward. A file containing a description of all items on the ballot can be viewed here.