A nationwide battle over forest certification standards continues to be played out nationally and in Florida with legislation passed this month. HB 269 would revise a 2008 law that led the Florida Department of Management Services to adopt the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program as the standard for state office buildings.
Bill supporters say other certification programs, including the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, should be considered, and that LEED discriminates against Florida wood growers. In a related development, the group ForestEthics in Seattle filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint contending that the Sustainable Forestry Initiative represents “green washing” by the timber industry that violates federal certification standards.
Related Stories
| Aug 9, 2012
DMR Architects converts bank building to municipal court
The project consisted of a $4 million renovation to a 2-story building totaling 13,000-sf.
| Aug 8, 2012
BD+C wins six B2B journalism awards
BD+C wins two national awards, three regional awards, and a regional Graphical Excellence award.
| Aug 8, 2012
BIM’s future up in the cloud
The AEC industry is on the cusp of a still more significant evolution with cloud computing.
| Aug 8, 2012
Giants 300 Sports Facilities Report
BD+C's Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the Sports Facilities sector.
| Aug 8, 2012
Giants 300 Science & Technology Report
BD+C's Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the Science & Technology sector.
| Aug 7, 2012
Pioneering revival
Financial setbacks didn’t stop this Building Team from transforming the country’s first women’s medical school into a new home for college students.
| Aug 7, 2012
Shedding light on the arts
Renovating Pietro Belluschi’s Juilliard School opens the once-cloistered institution to its Upper West Side community.
| Aug 7, 2012
How to win more state and local government projects
With a huge building stock at their disposal, state and local governments can be attractive clients, especially in these difficult economic times.
| Aug 7, 2012
McCarthy tops out LEED Platinum-designed UCSD Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility
New laboratory will enable UCSD to recruit and accommodate preeminent faculty.
| Aug 7, 2012
Pankow names Lum new CEO
Lum joined Pankow in 1980 in Hawaii and has held leadership roles in Pankow’s Honolulu and Northern California regional offices and was appointed president of the firm in 2009.
