ArchWeek - High Tension over Big Timber

[Kevin Matthews]

Discussion related to this ArchitectureWeek story:

[Kevin]

Posted on behalf of "Dynamo"/"Forest Advocate" due to filtering issues...

My goodness. Quite a bit of real estate devoted to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative in this article, and so little said about Forest Stewardship Council (except for such gems as “FSC is widely considered the gold standard” – now there’s factual reporting). Readers seeking some balance may want to have a look at http://www.fsc-watch.org/ – they will see that all that is gold does not glitter.

— Dynamo/Forest Advocate

[Kevin]

Thanks for the comment.

I'll mainly just note for now, as the article suggests:
See FSC Versus SFI in ArchitectureWeek No. 439.
http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2009/0812/environment_1-1.html

Neither FSC nor SFI is perfect, and from the perspective of those of us who think sustainable forestry certification is important, both organizations deserve close scrutiny.

That said, FSC and SFI are not equivalent, either, as discussed in various references, including...

Green Comparison: SFI & FSC (Woodwork Institute, 2004)
http://www.wicnet.org/pdfdocs/archetype/SFI&FSC.pdf

A Comparison of the American Forest & Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council’s Certification System (National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Council of Maine, Environmental Advocates, 2001)
http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/pdfs/auditprograms.pdf

[Kevin]

New York Times picks this issue today, Despite the trivializing headline they've got some some interesting detail on the FTC filing...

Feud Continues Between Wood Certifiers
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/eco-friendly-wood-certifiers-continue-feud/

"Another shot had been fired in the battle between rival certifiers of environmentally friendly wood products.

"The Coalition for Fair Forest Certification filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission last week charging that the Forest Stewardship Council – the premier certifier of green forestry products in the United States – engages in unfair and deceptive trade practices.

"The group also asserted that the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for efficient and sustainable buildings — known widely as L.E.E.D. — is anticompetitive because it only recognizes products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and not those of other certifying bodies...."

And further down in the NYT piece...

"Corey Brinkema, the president of the Forest Stewardship Council’s United States office, called the coalition’s assertions 'cynical and misleading.'

"According to Mr. Brinkema, his organization has ten core principals and 56 sub-criteria that are applied everywhere in the world – requirements that are much more specific, he said, than those of Forest Sustainability Initiative and more expensive to adhere to.

"'They’re attempting to put a green label on status quo practices,' Mr. Brinkema charged. 'F.S.C. will fight that — otherwise the value won’t be there and we will all lose.' ..."