USGBC Seeks to Make LEED More Wood Friendly

A new initiative from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) board of directors hopes to bring resolution to the prickly subject of wood in the LEED® Rating System. The timber industry has used its leverage to slow the adoption of LEED by state governments and federal agencies and has sponsored the introduction of a competing rating system, Green Globes™, to undermine LEED’s reach (see EBN Vol. 14, No. 3). “Wood has been a contentious topic for a number of years now,” board chair Kevin Hydes told EBN. “The board took a galvanizing approach to wanting to continue to demonstrate leadership and face these difficult issues head on,” he says.