The US Green Building Council' has developed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) which is a framework for measuring green building design, construction and maintenance solutions.

To have a building LEED certified there are a number of criteria to be assessed and points awarded for compliance with each aspect, these are weighted for their considered environmental impact.

A total number of points above a minimum threshold (40) will enable you to be certified to 'certified status' (40 points), 'Silver' (50 points), 'Gold' (60 points) and 'Platinum' (80 points).

The information contained in these pages provide guidance with respect to UK and Irish produced wood based panels and their capacity for gaining points in certain identified areas of the LEED certification documents.

LEED was revised in the latter part of 2013 to version 4, however there is currently a transition period where both the 2009 version and the 2013 (V4) version can be used.  The information contained in these pages will be applicable to complying with either:

LEED Certified Wood

All WPIF member produced Particleboard, OSB and MDF are FSC certified.

LEED Low Emitting Materials

Low emitting materials/products information

  • Before making a decision solely based on this criterion, the benefits of regionally sourced material, certified wood and recycled content should also be considered (see other sections on this page).
  • Panel products produced by WPIF membership can meet this requirement (but not all of them will).
  • Seek manufacturer's declaration on adhesive type for zero added formaldehyde resin use.
  • Seek manufacturer's declaration whether the product in question meets the CARB requirement for Ultra-Low-Emitting Formaldehyde (ULEF) resin.
  • Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC) testing to the ISO 16000 series i.e. German AgBB or French decree tests, are acceptable if not using the American CDPH test method.  Seek manufacturer's declaration of test results and test method.

Note: In Europe the lowest formaldehyde emission class is E1.  Compliance with E1 does not necessarily mean compliance with the LEED requirement, however E1 wood based panels are generally considered to contribute to indoor air quality at levels well below the WHO recommendations.