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Thursday, 21 July 2016
FSC in Green Building Webinar on November 16

Bullitt Center (© Bullitt Center)© Bullitt Center

July 21, 2016


You are invited to participate in an upcoming FSC Continuing Education webinar:

Mastering FSC-Certified Wood in Green Building is a GBCI and AIA approved CEU that is being hosted on November 16 at 12:00pm EST.

With recent changes to the US Green Building Council’s LEED program, and some confusion in the marketplace, FSC will be hosting a webinar for design leaders and LEED Accredited Professionals.

Through this course, you will learn about FSC, how it integrates with green building programs, and how to find FSC products.

View the course learning objectives and applicable credits, and register now.

Since the USGBC introduced the new pilot Alternative Compliance Pathway (ACP) for LEED in April 2016, there has been confusion about the changes.

With the intent to “help rid our buildings of illegal wood by promoting the use of wood that is verified to be legal,” the ACP is testing "prerequisite requirements” for the LEED program. While the ACP is currently part of a credit pathway, if it were to become a prerequisite it would be required of all LEED projects and would not generate points. Credits create incentives for environmental performance, whereas prerequisites establish a floor.

Right now, there are concerns about the ACP as it is written. It relies on a standard (ASTM 7612) that has never been used by architects or others to verify legality and there are serious questions about how design teams can comply with it.

Twice in the past five years the USGBC membership has voted to maintain the definition of responsible forest management in LEED as “FSC or equivalent.” The ACP cannot become permanent part of LEED without a vote from the USGBC membership.

The upcoming webinar will cover the changes to the LEED program.