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FSC Wood and the Green Building Market

FSC-certified Furniture, Flooring, and More!

With the growing demand for eco-friendly spaces at home and in the workplace, consumers are choosing products that will support a healthy environment both indoors and out.  They are concerned about where their wood products are coming from, how they are being made, and how the forests from which they came are being managed. 

FSC-certified furniture, flooring, moulding, windows, doors and many other wood products provide ways of creating a healthy indoor environment while supporting the sustainable management of forests around the world.

LEED and Green Building

FACT SHEET: FSC and LEED
USGBC Memo on how to Calculate MRc7 (April 2008)

At the forefront of the green building movement in North America is the LEED (Leadership in Environmental Design and Leadership) green building rating system.  Under this system buildings are given points, or credits, based on their ability to meet criteria in six different categories, one of which contains the use of certified wood.

The demand for FSC-certified wood products generated by the green building movement and the LEED system is gaining strength as more and more architects and interior designer specify FSC products in their building.  The FSC is the only certification system recognized by the (LEED) green building program, and is being used in hundreds of projects across North America.

Credits gained by using FSC wood can take your building to a LEED Silver, Gold, or even Platinum standing.  In Canada there were 437 registered (applications in process) and 60 certified LEED projects as of February 2007. This is more than a three-fold increase in just one and a half years. While currently focused on commercial buildings, a new LEED standard for homes has been developed in the U.S., which could revolutionize urban and suburban development projects.

Of the 70 points outlined in the LEED Canada Standard, 17 are relevant to wood. Projects qualifying for the certified wood credit may be able to achieve other wood-related points using the same product. For example, Columbia Forest Products produces an FSC-certified, low-emitting composite wood product that can meet MRc7 and EQc4.4 LEED credits. MRc 7, the certified wood credit, responds to customers and professionals concerns about how Canada's forests are managed. FSC certified wood products provide the assurance that forests are managed responsibly and in a sustainable manner.

Photos:(Top) Enermodal Engineering, LEED certified Canpar Distribution Centre, achieved the MRc7 Certified Wood Credit.  (Bottom) Omicron, LEED certified  Omicron Head Office, achieved the MRc7 Certified Wood Credit.

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