After a lengthy and contentious review, members of the U.S. Green Building Council -- the organization behind the LEED rating system -- rejected a proposal that would have opened the door to wood certified under various eco-labels to be considered for LEED credit.

While the status quo has not changed -- only products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council are recognized under the rating system -- don't expect the issue over LEED credit for wood products to fade away:

• The FSC and Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the chief FSC rival among certifying groups that supported the failed attempt to change rating system rules, want to revisit the issue for different reasons. 
• Development of the consensus-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system is ongoing, and the USGBC recently released the draft for the next version of LEED and opened public comment on prospective changes. Expect another attempt to update the wood credit during this process.
• And apart from the rating system, emerging green buildings codes and standards such as ASHRAE 189.1 and the International Green Construction Code v 2.0 are framed so that certified wood products bearing various eco-labels are recognized as long as the products meet benchmarks cited by the standards. The situation could result in greater use of wood certified under a range of labels, in spite of the long-running dispute over LEED wood credit.

On Monday, the USGBC announced the outcome of balloting on the proposal to change the wood credit rule, which required a two-thirds majority for approval. Fifty-five percent voted in favor, 42 percent opposed it and 3 percent abstained. GreenerBuildings.com Executive Editor Rob Watson writes in his column this week:

“Ironically, a coalition of people who felt that the credit went too far joined with those who felt it did not go far enough to kill the initiative ... I always knew that this would be a tough issue to address and my hat is off to USGBC for not caving to interests on both sides.”

The dispute traces its roots to more than a decade ago when the LEED standard was first developed. At the time, the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification process was deemed the most mature  -- and most independent -- system available, and it became the only eco-label for wood accepted by the standard.