Forest certification standards from 12 nations have called on the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in hopes of ending the discrimination against wood and the Council’s acceptance of all credible sustainable forest certification standards. The programs reported that wood is a good environmental choice for construction building materials as long as its resourced from a responsible entity and that certified fiber recognized by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) meet the demand as a sustainable product.
As of now, the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating tool only recognizes wood certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards. Forest certification standards came from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Slovak Republic, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Forest industry associations have joined North American governmental officials, foresters and other leaders to urge the USGBC to increase the use of wood in construction.
"Less than 10 percent of the world's forests are certified, yet LEED does not recognize the more than two thirds of the world's certified forests that meet PEFC's Sustainability Benchmarks," said PEFC International Secretary General Ben Gunneberg in the press release. "The United Nations has warned that by giving exclusive recognition to one forest certification brand, green building standards may help drive demand for these brands at the expense of wider appreciation for the environmental merits of wood." He also believes that USGBC must recognize the benefits of building with wood if the Council wants to demonstrate environmental leadership.
More than 5,800 people across the globe have signed an online petition posted by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program, a member of PEFC. Non-profit PEFC endorses national forest certification systems developed through multi-stakeholder processes and tailored to local priorities to promote sustainable forest management.
Photo courtesy of irin-k
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