As USGBC Tackles Wood Issue, Are Any Forests Out of Bounds For Green Buildings?
by Bill Walsh, National Coordinator Healthy Building Network May 31, 2006 A May 23, 2006 US Green Building Council press release announced “USGBC Board Tackles [the] Wood Issue.” [1] The Board has taken the unusual step of sending proposed new credit language, and a supporting whitepaper, to the LEED Steering Committee who will decide how the membership will consider and vote on the proposals. [2] The USGBC Board is recommending changes to the LEED Rating System that would eliminate the distinction between wood and other bio-based materials (e.g., cork or bamboo). One change would make all bio-based materials eligible for a LEED credit based on compliance with an as yet undefined “robust” certification similar to that now offered to wood products by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Raising the bar for a bio-based materials credit may be a good idea. Then the Board goes out of bounds by recommending a new LEED credit for just about any wood, no matter how it was grown or harvested,
