Is there a simple way to reach a definition of "Legal Wood"? I have looked up in ASTM D7612-10, but it seems that it is required to buy the entire standard in order to read the definition. The other sites referenced in the BuildingGreen article (https://www2.buildinggreen.com/article/leed-pilots-legal-wood-expansion-...) seem to apply to America, Europe and Australia. From the MRpc102 USGBC Calculator, it seems that legal wood is the one that is covered either by FSC, SFI, ATFS, CSA or PEFC.
It would be interesting to have a common definition (if possible) of the term "legal wood", especially for other fast-developing regions, such as Asia, Latin America and other relevant markets such as India and China, for example.
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brendan owens
svpUSGBC
LEEDuser Expert
129 thumbs up
April 18, 2016 - 12:00 pm
Andres - there are several ways that we anticipate project teams demonstrating legality in the context of this pilot ACP. Part of what we want to explore with this ACP are the various ways project teams can document legality - the third party certification programs referenced in ASTM-7612 are one way to do this but will more than likely not be the only way down the line. the more frameworks and ideas people can help us identify, the more robust our evaluation can be.
please share any ideas you have about alternative legality frameworks we can consider for inclusion in a future iteration of this pilot acp!
James Reinertsen
Project ManagerSustainable Design Consulting LLC
3 thumbs up
June 10, 2016 - 4:27 pm
Brendan - As I read it, ASTM D7612-10 suggests that wood harvested in the US and Canada meets their standard for "Legal". See 1.2 Note 1 "... documented risk assessments (noted in Appendix X5) provide the basis upon which raw materials sourced from Canada and the United States can be deemed to meet the "Legal Sources" category." and X2.5 "Additionally, compliance is satisfied if the raw material in products is traceable to jurisdictions with regulatory or quasi-regulatory programs to implement forestry best management practices. A variety of such programs is in place in the United States and Canada. ...At this point information is not sufficient to qualify jurisdictions outside of the United States and Canada."
Do you agree that this means that wood harvested in the US and Canada meets the standard for "Legal" wood without additional documentation beyond source of harvest? If so, could you revise the compliance spreadsheet tool to add a row for "Canada/US harvested wood" that is marked "Yes" in the "Legal" column (but "No" in the "Responsible" and "Certified" columns)?
Teresa Stern
Artist, Curator, WriterTeresa Stern Arts
17 thumbs up
November 8, 2016 - 2:39 pm
Any updates for U.S. projects? For FSC certified wood documentation, chain of custody is required from harvest to final site. Is there any guidance for documenting this ACP, i.e. has the GBCI/USGBC confirmed that all US & Canada harvested wood complies with ASTM D7612-10? If so, does noting the source suffice to document legality for documentation? For SFI and other certifications, what are the documentation requirements?
Kelli Kimura
Opsis Architecture12 thumbs up
August 25, 2022 - 5:12 pm
Hello!
Our team is looking into this ACP and had the same questions as James and Teresa above. Has there been any updates since. Any insight/thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks,