In its latest version of Pilot Credit 53: Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has dropped the requirement that a product bear the FSC-100% mark. Instead, USGBC outlined that any FSC-certified product-including FSC-Mixed products-could garner points under that credit.
In its latest version of Pilot Credit 53: Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has dropped the requirement that a product bear the FSC-100% mark. Instead, USGBC outlined that any FSC-certified product-including FSC-Mixed products-could garner points under that credit.
The change is noteworthy because Pilot Credit 53 is intended to replace MR Credit 7: Certified Wood in the next version of LEED, dubbed LEED 2012. The USGBC recently opened the third public comment period for LEED 2012 draft, and the comment period will close on March 20. The final version of LEED 2012 is expected to be ready for member balloting in June and be launched in November.
Pilot Credit 53 reads, "New wood products must be certified by Forest Stewardship Council, or better." In explaining what the phrase "or better" could mean, USGBC spokeswoman Ashley Katz said, "LEED references today's best certifications and labels for all materials, including wood, but retains the flexibility to allow recognition for new, emerging and substantially improved certifications that may appear between versions."
In addition to easing requirements for FSC products, the USGBC backed away from allowing other responsible forestry marks-like those of Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), American Tree Farm System, and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)-to garner LEED credits. In June 2011, it introduced Pilot Credit 43: Certified Products, which weighted FSC-, SFI- and PEFC-certified products the same. However, with its latest draft of pilot credits, USGBC split Pilot Credit 43 into two credits, neither of which mentions SFI, ATFS or PEFC.
In a statement, SFI said, "USGBC continues to put up artificial barriers in its latest draft of its LEED rating tool, shutting out 75 percent of North America's certified forests from the LEED credits that deal with responsible extraction of raw materials."
USGBC bills the LEED Pilot Credit Library as proving grounds for proposed LEED credits. According to the USGBC, it is a "mechanism for testing proposed credits in the marketplace and gaining real-time feedback on their usability as well as their ability to meet a credit's intent."
LEED users can submit comments on LEED, test credits in the pilot credit library, or join a discussion on the LEEDuser discussion board.