A letter signed by 79 members of Congress was sent to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), urging the organization to revise its Leadership and Energy in Environmental Design (LEED) green building standard.
The letter called for the USBGC to open the LEED standard to all credible forest certification systems. Currently, LEED only recognizes wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), but Congress wants it to include other groups, such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), to provide jobs and stimulate the market for wood products produced in the U.S.
In addition, the USGBC received a petition with nearly 6,000 signatures from architects, builders and other members of the wood products industry who also called for changes to be made to the LEED standard.