Technical Updates


Monday, 01 November 2010
Proposed Revisions to LEED: Vote "Negative, with reason"

On October 25, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) opened voting on revisions to the certified wood credit in LEED.


Based on a careful analysis, FSC-US is urging USGBC members to vote “Negative, with reason” on the revisions.

NOTE: It is important to use exact language.

Vote: “Negative, with reason”

Reason: “Benchmark prerequisites should be at least as rigorous and comprehensive as FSC.”

In a release issued by FSC, Corey Brinkema said, “Where we use forests, we have a responsibility to use them well. These revisions would be a big step backwards for the green building movement.”

At the same time, more than a dozen of the world’s largest environmental organizations — including Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace — issued an open letter to USGBC members also calling for a negative vote. “Clearly, a credit whose stated intent is to encourage ‘exemplary’ forest management should reward wood from forests whose management surpasses status quo practices,” the letter stated.

For more information about the LEED revisions, or to read recent media coverage from the New York Times and other publications, visit the FSC-US website.