From the issue: Criticism for FSC rules

Who gets to use the Forest Stewardship Council logo? The rules aren’t as simple as you might think. Further, the rules are generating confusion among contractor customers as to what really counts for LEED building projects, according to independent lumber dealers.



One of those dealers critical of the status quo regarding FSC certification is Sean Fogarty, VP of Osborne Lumber Company of Newark, California. His complaint is that some companies, including Home Depot, get to have their cake and eat it too. More specifically, they get to promote the FSC logo, and yet many of their locations — most, in fact, according to the FSC — do not keep the chain-of-custody records demanded by the LEED standard.



FSC Chain of Custody Certification continues to be an important sales point for many pro dealers, because the federal government’s LEED program, which recognizes buildings for their environmental friendliness, requires FSC-certified lumber. As long as builders desire LEED accreditation, and they do, dealers will feel an incentive to maintain FSC certification.



According to Fogarty, the desire to be certified is in part a concern for the environment, and in part a desire to participate in LEED-related projects. FSC chain-of-custody certification means paperwork, he said.



It means fees (ranging from $500 to $5,000 per year, depending on the size of the business). It also means the time and attention and continued training of yard employees. And FSC-certified product must be segregated from non-FSC products.



Given that investment, Fogarty and others see a fundamental unfairness when competitors can use the logo without achieving full FSC chain-of-custody certification.



For instance, there’s The Home Depot. According to the FSC, only a few Home Depot outlets are certified. These are typically in bastions of LEED activity, such as the Bay area and Portland, Oregon. The Atlanta-based home improvement giant can sell FSC-certified products without becoming certified.



Under this system, Fogarty believes there are contractors who think they’re getting FSC-certified products that comply with LEED, when in fact, they’re just getting the logo.



He pointed to a television commercial that appeared during a baseball game last year. The commercial showed Corey Brinkema, president of the Forest Stewardship Council in the United States. He was promoting sustainable forests in general and the FSC in particular. It ended with a pitch: Buy our FSC lumber at The Home Depot.



“That just steamed me,” he said. “It’s the FSC-certified dealers who are paying for the program. What’s going on here?”



The FSC says there’s no special treatment for Home Depot. According to Brad Kahn, the communications director for the Forest Stewardship Council in the United States, retailers such as the Home Depot (and others) can sell FSC-certified products without becoming certified. “This is true for any lumberyards and not special to The Home Depot,” Kahn said in an email to HBSDealer.



He said if independent lumberyards want to use the FSC logo, they can alert the FSC and fill out a form. Costs will generally be low, he said.



But Fogarty thinks that provision lacks logic. “If I were to place a unit of FSC-certified 2x4s next to non-certified stock, I would be in violation of the FSC standard. It seems you would either have to use one program or the other.”



Fogarty says he’s not bashing Home Depot — it’s the rules that are at fault.



“I see how it makes sense for them to have two separate programs — one strict program for LEED integrity, and one loose program for marketing visibility. But it is misleading to contractors and puts [companies like us] at a competitive disadvantage.”