Newsletter Stories


Monday, 08 October 2012
Update about FSC and LEED v4

 (© John Stamets for Bullitt Center)© John Stamets for Bullitt Center

October 8, 2012


Dear FSC Community:

On October 2nd, the US Green Building Council opened the 5th public comment period for LEED v4.

Overall, the Forest Stewardship Council is supportive of the direction that USGBC has taken the LEED program in this draft. FSC remains the only forest certification standard recognized in LEED, signaling the strength of USGBC's commitment to leadership, high standards and market transformation. And while the details are yet to be released, it appears that FSC may serve as a model for recognizing leadership standards for other raw materials in construction products. This is a promising development, since other materials are rightly criticized for lacking similar rigorous, independent certifications of their environmental performance.

FSC will develop a full analysis of this 5th draft to share with our community well before the comment period closes on December 10th. In the meanwhile, a few key points from the revised raw material sourcing credit are worth sharing:

Sourcing of Raw Materials Credit (replacing the Responsible Extraction of Raw Materials Credit from the 4th Draft)

  • Option 1. Raw Material Source and Extraction Reporting (disclosure): Use at least 20 permanently installed products from manufacturers that have publicly released a report from their raw material suppliers including the following: extraction locations and commitments to responsible land use, reducing environmental harms and meeting applicable standards.
  • Option 2. Leadership Extraction Practices (optimization): Use products that meet at least one of the responsible extraction criteria for at least 25% by cost of the total value of permanently installed building products. Responsible extraction criteria include FSC certification for new wood, SAN certification for non-wood bio-based, salvaged or recycled materials, and other future USGBC-approved programs meeting leadership extraction criteria. 
  • 1.5x multiplier for domestic sources within 500 miles of project site; 2x multiplier for sourcing within 100 miles (all materials counting toward credit must meet above responsible extraction criteria). 
  • Structure and enclosure materials may not constitute more than 30% of the value of compliant building products.
  • For composite materials and assemblies, count only fraction that meets the requirements, based on weight.
  • Pre-consumer recycled is discounted by 50%.

There are many other details that we will fully consider and share in the weeks ahead.

Since the comment period spans Greenbuild 2012 (November 14-16), we expect a robust dialogue on the tradeshow floor.

In close, since LEED v4 maintains a commitment to leadership standards – and FSC in particular – we fully expect the conventional industry to invest heavily in attacks. Already, astroturf campaigns led by hidden interests are focusing misinformation on FSC.

This is predictable and should not fool anyone.

Recently, USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi addressed status quo interests in a Huffington Post column entitled "The Scoundrel's Handbook." One quote seems especially apt right now: "It was Samuel Johnson who said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. He talked a lot about false patriots, those who appeal to the rabble, circulate pointless petitions, and who allow their passions to confound the distinctions between right and wrong."

We couldn't agree more.

LEED is a leadership standard, supported by a broad base of diverse interests who vote on the standards and elect the board of directors. High standards and open, member-led governance are the keys to its integrity, just like FSC.

While we have much work to do, we are heartened by the likelihood that LEED v4 will remain a significant demand driver for FSC-certified products. Over the past 10 years, LEED has contributed to 100 million acres of North American forests certified to FSC standards. We look forward to strong continued growth over the next 10 years and beyond.