This message came in earlier today and is something of which we should all be aware. I took the extra step, in this world of uncertain facts, of checking the veracity of the message with Jason Grant who confirmed it. From William Bucholtz:
Dear Green Building Colleagues,
No one likes being fooled, but it’s particularly galling when companies tell lies about alleged green products and practices.
I’m writing to let you know that DuChateau Flooring (http://duchateau.com) had their FSC certificate suspended because they were caught selling and marketing large volumes of wood flooring as FSC-certified, when in fact it was not. Virtually all of the products on their website were marketed as FSC 100%, their boxes of flooring had the FSC logo, etc. As a result of a complaint filed by the Sierra Club’s Forest Certification and Green Building Team, of which I’m a member, Du Chateau was investigated and found to be in violation of FSC’s certification rules. They are now supposed to cease using all FSC trademarks during the 12 months (minimum) that they will be suspended. See attached statements from Sierra Club and FSC for details.
This company has long focused on the green building market, and continues to claim that their products meet the requirements for the LEED 2009 MRc7 Certified Wood credit, even though they don’t. There are probably thousands of DuChateau flooring samples in architectural libraries around the country that are now falsely labeled as FSC. Please forward this email to the architectural librarians and interior designers in your firm to inform them to ignore the FSC label on these samples.
Sincerely,
William Buchholz, Emeritus AIA, CSI, LEED AP
Member, Sierra Club Forest Certification and Green Building Team
