Technical Updates


Friday, 01 March 2013
First FSC Project Certification for Commercial Building in the US

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

March 1, 2013


The Bullitt Center, which is the first heavy-timber office building in Seattle since the early 20th century, is also the first commercial building in the U.S. to earn FSC Project Certification. 

FSC Project Certification provides third-party assurance that all wood is from responsible sources. While growing in popularity in Europe and elsewhere, project certification is still relatively new in the U.S.

The certification was awarded to the Bullitt Center for its core and shell, with 100 percent of the wood coming from FSC certified sources. Soil Association Woodmark conducted the onsite audits and awarded the certification (SA-PRO-003818). 

General contractor, Schuchart Corporation, procured the wood for the Bullitt Center – which also won Commercial Building of the Year at the Design & Build with FSC Awards last year – from Matheus Lumber in Woodinville, WA. Products included glulam timbers from Calvert Glulams, dimensional lumber from Potlatch, small timbers from Elk Creek Forest Products, structural plywood from Roseburg Forest Products and recycled lumber from Rhine Demolition.

As Denis Hayes, CEO of the Bullitt Foundation noted, "The Bullitt Center is about doing everything right, from the solar array on the roof to the geothermal wells in the ground. When we looked at the wood, FSC was the only way to go."For more information, visit the Bullitt Center website.