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Chicago, Ill. — As the US Green Building Council (USGBC) proposes weaker standards for certified wood in LEED, the Forest Stewardship Council US (FSC-US) lauded two groundbreaking projects today, clearly showing that high standards are transforming the green building marketplace.

FSC-US bestowed its 2010 “Design & Build with FSC” awards to two projects stretching the boundaries of sustainable design, forest conservation, and climate change mitigation. This year’s commercial development award went to the FondAction Building in Quebec City, Que., a 6-story all wood superstructure which is the tallest building of its kind in North America. The residential award went to The Vermont Street Project, a single family timber-framed home in Portland, Ore. Both projects exceeded 98 percent FSC-certified or reclaimed wood use.

“We reviewed many exemplary projects this year, but our winners really stood out,” said Corey Brinkema, president of FSC-US. “Especially now, as USGBC members are voting whether to lower the standards for certified wood in LEED, it is timely to show how these projects have broad impacts in the marketplace. High standards matter,” Brinkema said.

USGBC members are voting until Nov. 23 whether to weaken the standards for certified wood in LEED, the most accepted green building program. Currently, LEED prescribes FSC as the standard required to earn credits for use of certified wood. Brinkema said, “the certified wood credit in LEED has been one of the principal drivers for healthy forest ecosystems in North America and around the world — we believe the standards set by FSC should represent the floor, not the ceiling.”

The FondAction Building Quebec, in Quebec City, Quebec and The Vermont Street Project, in Portland, Ore., are the two winning projects for 2010:

Winner – Commercial: FondAction Building Quebec, Quebec City, Que.

Architect: GHA Architecture et Developpement Durable

The tallest building of its type in North America, this 6-story, 60,000 square-foot office building is composed entirely of FSC-certified glu-lams, instead of steel and concrete. Inspired by an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that recommended using structural wood, rather than concrete and steel, to reduce global warming pollution, the FondAction building used more than 400,000 board-feet of FSC-certified wooden glu-lams, displacing approximately 3 times that volume of concrete. Had the building used concrete, 450 additional tons of CO2 would have been emitted. Also the wood in the structure contains roughly 900 tons of CO2 that will be sequestered for the life of the building. The project made extensive use of FSC-certified wood in the interior as well, including doors, doorframes, and a suspended wooden ceiling. This project is a candidate for LEED gold certification and 98 percent of the wood, valued at $1.02 million, is FSC-certified.

Winner – Residential: The Vermont Street Project, Portland, Ore.

Architect: New Energy Works

All of the solid wood in this 2,000 square-foot home is either FSC certified or reclaimed, which includes reclaimed timber framing, reclaimed flooring, and FSC-certified flooring, paneling, cabinets, doors, siding and decking. This project is a candidate for LEED platinum certification.

Winning projects were selected based on the amount of FSC-certified wood used, the appropriateness of wood use, creative expression and innovation, and efforts to advance FSC market transformation, such as the number of new FSC certificates issued, project replicability and affordability, relationships formed along the supply chain.

FSC hosted an awards reception at Greenbuild in Chicago on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 pm.

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