Arkansas Congressmen Press USGBC Over Wood Certification Rules Senator, two Representatives press to recognize SFI, ATFS standards

By Craig Webb

Grand Valley chosen as 'Green College' by Princeton Review

April 21, 2010

LEEDing the Way: DeVos Place, Stewards of the City

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Recently, The DeVos Place achieved “Steward” level Green Venue Certification from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth. (DELEG)

Green Venues Michigan (GVM) is a department of the DELEG that encourages entertainment venues, convention centers, and similar facilities to implement environmental initiatives and cost-saving “green” practices to conserve energy, reduce water consumption, protect air quality, reduce waste, and participate in environmentally preferred purchases. 

How did they do it?  By Partnering with the GVM the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s Partnership for a Sustainable Community they made the following sustainable changes to their building and operations. 

• Low-flow fixtures to reduce water consumption
• Purchase of paper products using at least 30 percent recycled content
• More efficient heating, cooling, and lighting management systems
• Initiated a facility wide recycling effort

Eddie Tadlock, Assistant General Manager for DeVos Place said, “To keep pace with the growing national trend toward ‘Green Meetings,’ SMG is aggressively marketing DeVos Place as a ‘green’ facility, and the city of Grand Rapids as a Green Destination.”

 Congrats on your achievement DeVos Place and thank you for contributing to a sustainable Grand Rapids!

 To read more on this story check out:
@Kcorner's article on Mlive
Press Release from Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth

LEED for Neighborhood Development is Launched

The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development. LEED for Neighborhood Development is a collaboration among USGBC, Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

LEED for Neighborhood Development Registration Is Now Open!

Project teams are now able to register their projects in LEED Online and download forms for the Smart Location & Linkage (SLL) Prerequisite Review. This new feature will enable projects to assess their location against the SLL prerequisites before paying for a full certification.  Full certification will be added in late 2010 and project teams will be notified as soon as more information is available. For additional details and fee information, please visit the GBCI website.  To learn more about the SLL Prerequisite Review, check out the FAQ documents listed below:

LEED for Neighborhood Development Certification FAQ

LEED for Neighborhood Development Program FAQ

Non-U.S. Projects

LEED 2009 for Neighborhood Development Rating System

The LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system passed USGBC's ballot and has received approval from our partner organizations, the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The rating system now represents two-and-a-half years of market and user feedback.

While registration for new projects is not anticipated to open until 2010, the balloted rating system can be downloaded for review by anyone interested, including for-profit and nonprofit developers, owners, others involved in projects that may seek LEED for Neighborhood Development certification, and local governments interested in reviewing the rating system for possible incentives or as an evaluation tool.

Information about registration and the certification process will be posted when available.

LEED 2009 for Neighborhood Development Rating System (ZIP - 12MB)
LEED 2009 for Neighborhood Development Project Checklist (XLS)

The LEED Reference Guide for Green Neighborhood Development is now available in hardcopy or e-book.

Addenda to the LEED Reference Guide for Green Neighborhood Development (PDF) - It is strongly recommended that project teams adhere to the Reference Guide addenda based on registration date.

LEED for Neighborhood Development Regional Priority Credits

Through USGBC’s regional councils, chapters and affiliates, the following regionally priority credits were selected for the LEED 2009 for Neighborhood Development rating system. Project teams may earn up to four of the six credits which are specific to the zip code of a project's location. The credits for each zip code are available in the following sheet (XLS).

LEED for Neighborhood Development Regional Priority Credit Lookup

Note: These regional priority credits are only applicable for the LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System.

LEED for Neighborhood Development, Pilot

The pilot opened in July 2007 with nearly 240 projects participating. They provided important feedback about the rating system. The pilot is no longer open to new projects.

Pilot Version Rating System (PDF)
Pilot Version Project Checklist (PDF)

List of LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot projects by project name (PDF)
List of LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot projects by state/province (PDF)

List of Certified LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot projects (PDF)

Characteristics of LEED for Neighborhood Development Pilot Projects (PDF)

USGBC would like to thank the Blue Moon Fund, the EPA Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment, the EPA Development, Community, and Environment Division, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kresge Foundation for their support of LEED for Neighborhood Development.

Buildings - Green and Sustainable in Michigan

Honigman and Horizon Environmental to Host Climate Change Executive Roundtable

When: May 4, 2010, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Where: Kalamazoo Country Club, 1609 Whites Road, Kalamazoo, MI

(www.kalamazoocountryclub.com)

Cost: Complimentary – Pizza, beer and soft drinks included

The Environmental Law Department of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP and

Horizon Environmental Corporation are pleased to announce their joint sponsorship of

an executive level roundtable on existing and pending climate change legislation and

regulations and their impact on business. The Roundtable will be held in a casual after

work setting at the Kalamazoo Country Club in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Speakers include:

• Russ Harding, Director, Property Rights Network, Mackinac Center for

Public Policy

• Skiles W. Boyd, V.P. Environmental Affairs, DTE Energy Corporation

• Joseph M. Polito, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP

• Alan M. Greenberg, Horizon Environmental Corporation

• G. Vinson Hellwig, Chief, Air Quality Division, Michigan Department of

Natural Resources and Environment

• Mason Henderson, Director of Emissions Trading, CantorCO2e, a Cantor

Fitzgerald Company

• S. Lee Johnson, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP

• Brian Leahy, Horizon Environmental Corporation

We expect a lively and informative discussion on many topics, including the

following:

• The Science, The Controversy And The Opportunity

• Climate Change Bills In The U.S. House And Senate

• Economic Impact Of Climate Change Legislation

• Energy Production In A Carbon Constrained Environment – Economic

Implications

• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Credit Trading

• EPA’s Proposed PSD/Title V Tailoring Rule For GHG Sources—Latest

Developments

• EPA’s GHG Reporting Rule

• Potential Regulation Of GHGs Under Existing Clean Air Act Authority

• GHG Liabilities Under Common Law (Nuisance/Tort)

• SEC Guidelines Regarding Climate Change Disclosures

If you would like to attend the Roundtable, please RSVP to Ms. Katherine Hammers

by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 313-465-7216.

WE REQUEST THAT YOU RESPOND BY FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010, 6PM.

We look forward to seeing you at the Roundtable.

Wood Groups Dislike USGBC's Third Try To Write Rules on LEED Points

FSC-US, SFI oppose plan for vastly different reasons.

by Craig L. Webb

The two major green certification groups for lumber are continuing to attack--for much different reasons--the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) third attempt to create a system by which multiple wood certification schemes would qualify for points under the LEED rating system.

The comments by the Forest Stewardship Council's U.S. branch (FSC-US) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) echoed previous stated views about the certification issue that suggest USGBC has no hope of satisfying everyone on this long-running, hotly contested issue, despite its recent attempt to resolve some concerns that both sides raised.

"We at the Forest Stewardship Council would like to see the USGBC complete and approve a strong benchmark and related ... credit revisions that reward forest managers who practice truly exemplary forestry," FSC-US president Corey Brinkema wrote March 10. "Regrettably, this draft does not achieve that."

Said SFI president and CEO Kathy Abusow: "It appears that the USGBC ... is set to continue with the status quo policy of excluding forest certification standards other than the FSC ... If the USGBC maintains the status quo and does not recognize the SFI standards, many LEED builders who chase points will turn away reputable third-party certified SFI wood which is grown in their backyard, in the U.S. and Canada, and instead turn to FSC-certified wood--the vast majority of the FSC's global supply comes from overseas and often from countries without effective social laws."

At issue is the way USGBC gives points in its various LEED certification programs for the use of wood. At present, only FSC-certified lumber qualifies for points under the standard. Many North American timber operations prefer the certification schemes run by SFI, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and they've pushed for years to get those certifications recognized by USGBC for LEED points.

USGBC has been working since 2006 to come up with new language that replaces its FSC-only preference with verbiage that would make it possible for any certification scheme that meets certain benchmarks to have its certification qualify for LEED points. Wood certification has been one of the most contentious issues USGBC has grappled with over the years, even though the head of the USGBC committee charged with managing the question has told EcoHome’s sister publication ProSales the fight is "totally out of proportion to its importance" in the overall green building movement.

On Feb. 22, it opened a third public comment period for its latest proposal. That comment period ended March 14.

USGBC revised several proposals that drew fire from the 1,200 participants in its second public comment period. (See related story.) For instance, it no longer requires that the governing body of a certification group allocate no more than a third of its votes to governmental or for-profit forest owners, producers, and other commercially involved entities. It also knocked out a requirement that any decision approved must get supported by a majority of the board's members representing environmental, social, and economic interests.

However, the differences in philosophies that drive these various groups--differences that range from who runs the certification groups to what constitutes good forestry--also make it virtually impossible for USGBC to satisfy everyone.

Among its comments, FSC-US disliked how the proposal eliminated the need to go beyond what USGBC required as prerequisites for any certification scheme and get at least 40% of what USGBC identified as optional credits. "This change is a substantial lowering of the bar without any explanation," FSC-US said. It also said USGBC's rules would recognize governance models for certification groups that don't encourage transparency and said USGC "still fails to make prerequisite critical protections for indigenous peoples."

SFI's statement took issue with what USGBC failed to do once it got the last round of comments. "During the September 2009 comment period, the USGBC put forward 80 individual benchmarks in its second draft," SFI said. "SFI submitted comments on a significant number of these benchmarks. In the current and third draft, only five of the benchmarks are up for review, which suggests only five of the benchmarks were changed. The other 75 are not available for comment, and the USGBC has not provided any rationale for why it has not addressed the proposed changes to these benchmarks, instead providing casual responses such as "the requirements were deemed appropriate."

Once the USGBC's panel finishes its work, the proposed revisions would be submitted to the USGBC membership for a vote. That could happen later this year.

GBCI pulls LEED certifications back in-house

The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) is pulling back part or all of the LEED certification process in-house from independent certifiers.

Announced it was planning to shift its internally run certification of buildings to independent certifiers administered by a sister non-profit, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).  A speaker at an USGBC - National Capital Region event declared on March 17 that USGBC was taking steps to reverse this direction and bring the LEED certification process back in house to USGBC. After posting this on our blog, Virginia Real Estate, Land Use and Construction Law, GBCI replied that GBCI was keeping the certifications but apparently is pulling some or all of them back in house.

The outsourcing to GBCI and third party certifications was initially described as adding greater independence.  Commentators also discussed the potential for removal of conflicts of interest, first with the initial transfer of testing and accreditation from USGBC to GBCI a year prior to the transfer of certifications.

Last year, USGBC faced reports of significant delays in the certification process. Most notably, Vandana Sinha of the Washington Business Journal reported in May 2009 on, "a backlog of hundreds of LEED certification requests that has stretched processing periods from what should be five weeks to closer to five months."  USGBC touted that the new shift to GBCI, coupled with extensive additional managed third party reviewers, would wipe out the backlog by June 26.  As detailed in our article for Building Washington, Volume 24, No. 3, "Green Overgrowth", review times were still estimated by USGBC staff at twelve weeks in August 2009.

We had not heard much anecdotal grumbling over review times in the last few months. GBCI staff informed us that review times generally are within the estimates of 25 business days for preliminary construction phase reviews and 15 business days for final construction reviews. Assuming this is true, it appears that the backlog as been worked off.  How much is due to efficient administration as opposed to an evaporating construction pipeline due to the tanking construction economy is a valid question. 

It is against this historic backdrop that we must view the casual bombshell dropped by Stuart Kaplow during the USGBC - NCR event March 17.  Mr. Kaplow, Chair of USGBC Maryland, described some specific struggles and frustrations with the certification process in the wake of GBCI administration where credits were misinterpreted by reviewers and historic positions were ignored during the process.

GBCI provided a very intriguing official response to our original blog post.  The full language is in the comments section of our blog post, but the relevant first paragraph reply states:
There has been some misunderstanding about recent process changes at GBCI, the third party that provides certification for LEED projects. GBCI is bringing the technical review of project documentation in house over the next two years rather than continuing to manage the process exclusively through other certification bodies. This move will allow us to have closer technical oversight of reviews and more direct communication with our customers to ensure consistency and clarity throughout the process. This doesn't change anything project teams are doing now.

We appreciate the comment and clarification, as well as the delicious nuance this adds to the discussion.  It appears that:

The plan is not to transfer control back to USGBC from GBCI for the LEED certifications as initially stated by Mr. Kaplow; however, It appears there are in fact substantive and substantial changes anticipated to the current certification regime; GBCI in fact is taking at least some level of technical review back "in house"; I am struck in particular by the "ensure consistency and clarity throughout the process" language ... that suggests that process changes were needed to reign in and create consistency amongst the various third party outside bodies.  While the detail is shifted a bit, that clearly fits with Mr. Kaplow's description of process and credit review issues.

Timothy R. Hughes is Of Counsel to the Arlington, Virginia law firm of Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C. and a LEED Accredited Professional.  He is Lead Editor of the firm’s blog which is located atwww.valanduseconstructionlaw.com and may be reached at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or by phone at 703-525-4000.