Green Standards

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Letter to the Editor: There's Less Transparency in Green Wood Certification Than You Think

Jason Grant, a consultant (www.jasongrantconsulting.com) on green building issues based in Northern California, sent us this letter recently in response to an article first published on ProSales' website and then reprinted by our sister magazine, EcoHome. More

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USGBC Floats Plan To Let Wood-Cert Groups Qualify for LEED

In what could be a major step toward quieting the wood-certification dispute, the U.S. Green Building Council has proposed giving credit under its LEED program to several currently unrecognized wood-certification groups for at least helping bring more transparency to green construction efforts. More

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USDA Ramps Up Pro-Wood, Pro-Green Policies

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will preferentially select wood in its new building projects, seek to enhance research and development in green building materials, and look for ways to show off wood as a green building material in big buildings, Agriculture Secretary Tim Vilsack announced. More

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Forestry Group Aims To Boost Sustainability Practices

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

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NLBMDA Legislative Agenda Seeks To Retain Mortgage Interest Deduction

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

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USGBC's Wood-Certification Benchmark Battle Enters New Phase

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

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FSC Wants Another Vote on Wood-Cert Benchmark

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

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Proposed USGBC Wood-Certification Benchmarks Fail To Win Enough Support

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

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SFI Calls for Rejection of USGBC Wood-Certification Benchmarks

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

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Both Sides Lining Up Against USGBC's Wood-Cert Vote

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

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