Why the USGBC Should Change LEED's Position on Wood

At its May 2006 board meeting in New Orleans, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) board of directors endorsed a series of recommendations for modifying the two credits in the LEED^® Rating System that relate to biobased materials. (Full disclosure: I was asked by USGBC to lead this effort, and I wrote the recommendations.) As described elsewhere in this issue (see USGBC Seeks to Make LEED More Wood Friendly), the proposal calls for a) changing Materials and Resources Credit 6 (MRc6) from a rapidly renewable credit into a broader, biobased credit; and b) broadening MRc7, which currently rewards the use of wood certified under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards, to establish criteria for accepting other biobased-material certification systems as well as waste agricultural materials. Whether and how LEED implements these changes will be determined through the Council’s consensus processes, involving member committees and public comment.
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