Certified Wood – A Great Choice for Green Building

OVER THE last few years, product eco-labelling and verification programs related to ethical or environmental sourcing have become more common.

Karen Brandt, Vice President of Market Affairs for Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) explains why the SFI mark is regarded as one of the key timber certification bodies and
illustrates the impact on green building projects.

In the world of construction, green rating systems and environmental building codes are increasingly becoming mainstream. In forestry, voluntary third-party certification began in the 1990s as a response to market concerns about forest management and illegal logging, primarily in developing countries. Today, it is rapidly becoming an important element of responsible sourcing for builders, architects, governments and consumers from around the world. So why the growing interest? After all, a certified two-by-four looks the same and likely performs just as well as one from a forest that is not certified. The world of forestry and the certification rules that now.

It’s what stands behind an independent certification programs like SFI that makes the difference. The SFI label is a sign products come from responsible sources, backed by a rigorous, independent certification audit. When forest operations are third-party certified to the SFI Standard, it means harvested areas are reforested promptly, biological diversity maintained, special sites considered, wildlife habitat maintained, and much more. Our unique fibre sourcing requirements promote responsible forest management on all suppliers’ lands in North America.

The SFI program was created especially for lands in Canada and the United States where comprehensive forest, environmental and social laws are well entrenched. Since less than 10 per cent of the world’s forests are certified, the SFI program has a global reach when it comes to responsible procurement – requiring a risk assessment of fibre from uncertified lands outside North America to avoid illegal logging and other controversial sources.

The UK and Europe continue to be important markets for SFI-certified forest products. Earlier this year, SFI Inc. opened an office in Europe to support buyers, builders and governments in understanding forest certification and supply options, especially from a North American context. The UK is experiencing rapid growth in the proportion of certified timber and panel products – and more customers are asking for certified products.

A study released by the UK Timber Trade Federation found that the level of certified imports was 81.4 per cent in 2008 compared to 55.8 per cent in 2005. One in three customers specifically asks for certified goods compared with one in 10 in 2005.

Fibre from SFI-certified forests in Canada and the United States is found in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, and major brand retailers carry wood products that have SFI chain-of-custody certification, a tool used to track wood fibre from a certified forest. In its 2008-2009 Forest Products Annual Market Review, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reported that the SFI program had the most significant growth in chain-of-custody certification – and we continue to experience phenomenal growth.

We are also accepted by organisations and governments worldwide. After a rigorous assessment in 2008, the United Kingdom’s Central Point of Expertise on Timber confirmed the SFI program met its government’s requirements for ‘legality’ and ‘sustainability’. The SFI Standard is endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC), and is accepted by respected labelling programs, including Nordic Swan and Environment Canada’s EcoLogo program.

Basics of Certification
Third-party certification is the cornerstone of an independent forest certification standard such
as SFI – it verifies that the requirements set out in the standard and supporting documents
have been met. Independent, objective, qualified certification bodies evaluate planning,
procedures, systems and performance of on-the-ground forest operations against a
predetermined standard. If they conform, a certificate is issued.

The SFI program has evolved and continually improved since it was launched in 1994. Today, SFI Inc. is a fully independent non-profit charitable organization, and we just released our fourth revised standard, the SFI 2010-2014 Standard. Each standard is developed by professional foresters, conservationists, scientists and others as part of an open public process.

Larry Selzer, President and CEO of The Conservation Fund and a member of the SFI multi-disciplinary Board of Directors, recently said his organization has been involved in the SFI program since its inception “because we see the incredibly positive results on the ground – and we believe consumers increasingly are recognizing the power of SFI to drive good conservation in our nation’s private forests.”

The SFI program can deliver a stable supply of certified products. With close to 80 million
hectares certified to our standard in North America, we have become the largest single forest standard in the world. We also offer chain-of-custody certification. A company can apply for an SFI chain-of-custody certification if it has processes in place to identify how much of a product comes from certified lands, how much contains post-consumer recycled content, and how much is non-certified/noncontroversial forest content.

PEFC endorsed the SFI forest management standard in 2005, and today SFI certified lands
make up about 35 per cent of all of PEFC’s certified lands globally. The SFI on-product label can be used to identify fibre certified to any PEFC-endorsed standard in North America, as long as there is a valid SFI or PEFC chain-ofcustody certificate. This includes the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). This means that over three quarters of all the certified fibre in North America is eligible to carry the SFI label through chain-of-custody certification.

The SFI, ATFS, CSA and PEFC programs work together to support responsible forestry by promoting the benefits of certification and encouraging public and private agencies to develop procurement policies that recognize all certification standards. The SFI and PEFC programs are involved in activities to strengthen the entire supply chain – from market acceptance for the PEFC and SFI labels to joint efforts to tackle international issues such as illegal logging.

Certification and Green Building Green building rating systems around the world encourage the use of wood as a critical component of sound architectural design by recognizing credible forest certification programs endorsed by PEFC, or the 30+ standards that fall under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) umbrella. These tools include BREEAM in the United Kingdom, Green Star in Australia, Built Green Canada and two systems in the United States approved by the American National Standards Institute – the ANSI/ICC 700-2008:National Green Building Standard for residential construction and the ANSI-GBI 01-2010 Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings (formerly Green Globes U.S.) for commercial construction.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is reviewing the forest certification credit in its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which currently gives a point for using wood certified to FSC, but not to other standards. Forestry experts, government officials, conservationists and many others are urging USGBC to move to recognize all credible certification programs to promote responsible forestry, this is especially important considering that only 10 per cent of the world’s forests are certified.

In an article in 2008, Dr. Jeff Howe of non-profit Dovetail Partners Inc. stated: “We must remember that the fundamental purpose of forest certification systems was to decrease deforestation rates, particularly in tropical regions by using the marketplace to create
incentives for good forest practices. Quibbling over the relative merits of good systems
distracts from that overall goal.”

The USGBC continues to hear from leaders across the United States and Canada, including governors, congressmen and government agencies responsible for forestry. The Canadian Council of Forest Ministers issued a statement in 2008 saying governments in Canada accept that SFI, CSA and FSC “demonstrate, and promote the sustainability of forest management practices in Canada”.

Since most LEED-rated buildings in North America are publicly funded, it should be no surprise that nearly 20 per cent of all state governors in the United States have sent letters to the USGBC urging it to open up green building to all credible forest certification programs – including SFI and PEFC, which together make up close to twothirds of all certified lands globally. This encouraged SFI Inc. to find a way to let more people speak up. So in addition to providing detailed comments to USGBC, we launched an on-line petition (www.ipetitions.com/ petition/leed) urging USGBC to recognize all certification standards used in North America, including SFI, FSC, CSA, ATFS and PEFC.

The response was immediate, and gratifying. Within 24 hours, we had more than 1,000 signatures – and to date more than 5,700 people have signed and added their voice to the growing chorus of concern. Some spoke to the double standard set by USGBC in that certified wood products would need to clear 49 mandatory benchmarks for a single LEED point while there are no requirements for steel or concrete.

Green building systems are not the only respected programs to recognize the strength of all credible certification programs. With decades of experience in the forests across North America, professional foresters have shown their support for forest certification. The Canadian Institute of Forestry and the Society of American Foresters have rallied behind opening up LEED. In the United States, the National Association of State Foresters passed a resolution in 2008 supporting all U.S. certification programs, saying: “While in different manners, the ATFS, FSC, and SFI systems include the fundamental elements of credibility and make positive contributions to forest sustainability. . . . No certification program can credibly claim to be ‘best’, and no certification program that promotes itself as the only certification option can maintain credibility.”

Certified forest products are a good choice for any building needs. And with only 10 per cent of the world’s forests certified, supporting all certification is important to keep your building options and supply options open while still supporting responsible forest management. Meanwhile, the SFI program will continue to work with our many partners, including PEFC, to raise awareness of the value of forest certification and to find ways we can work together to maintain healthy forests and strong communities at home and abroad.