USGBC

The American Forest & Paper Association released five goals for the forest products industry to be more environmentally sustainable, including work to increase the amount of fiber procured from certified forest lands and to promote polices worldwide that reduce illegal logging. More

The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association added its voice to the housing industry's call against efforts to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction, even as the NLBMDA favored a legislative and regulatory policy agenda that echoes the surge in pro-business, anti-regulation attitude in Washington. More

The two major interest groups sparring over a potential U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) benchmark for wood-certification schemes are backing much different ideas now that USGBC has failed to approve a proposed standard that wood-certification groups would have to achieve to have their certifications qualify for LEED points. More

Following a U.S. Green Building Council vote that failed to pass a wood-certification benchmark, the Forest Stewardship Council's U.S. chapter has urged the council to continue to strive for a benchmark by sending out a revised ballot. More

Proposed benchmark standards to determine when a wood-certification group would have its certification qualify for points in the LEED rating system failed to win the required two-thirds approval from a special group of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) members. The 55% "yes" to 42% "no" vote represents the rejection of several years' worth of work by a USGBC committee and guarantees even more fighting over one of green construction's most bitterly debated issues. More

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative urged a "no" vote against the U.S. Green Building Council's proposed benchmark standards that would decide when a wood-certification group like SFI would have its certification qualify for points in the LEED rating system. In doing so, it joins with the Forest Stewardship Council--the only group whose certification currently qualifies--in rejecting the USGBC proposal, although for radically different reasons. More

Key players in the years-long fight over green construction wood-certification schemes appear to be uniting--for opposite reasons--behind promoting a "no" vote on a U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) proposal that would set standards on which groups' wood certification schemes will qualify for points in the USGBC's LEED program. More

The U.S. Green Building Council will begin collecting votes Oct. 25 on proposed language that would set standards on which groups' wood certification schemes will qualify for points in the USGBC's LEED program recognizing green construction. Ballots will be accepted until Nov. 23, and the council expects shortly afterward to announce results that are just about certain to displease several key groups that have fought for years over this issue. More