At the moment, the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED system does not certify green building products or building materials. However, certain green building materials and green products do qualify for LEED Credits under the different LEED green building rating systems (such as Commercial Interiors, Core and Shell and Operations and Maintenance).

For instance, earning the Materials and Resources "Certified Wood Credit" is reserved for certification programs that are, after thorough objective analysis by the USGBC, deemed compliant with the benchmark would be recognized by LEED. This was revised in September of 2008 (In prior versions of LEED, only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified products were compliant with LEED).

In terms of green building product/material certifying bodies, here are some of the groups to look for when pursuing LEED Certification for your building. Confirm with your LEED AP as to whether or not these certifying bodies are compliant with the USGBC's LEED requirements:

Sustainable Forestry Initiative: The SFI's forest certification standard is based on principles that promote sustainable forest management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk and forests with exceptional conservation value.

The SFI standard is used widely across North America, and has strong acceptance in the global marketplace. The SFI is able to deliver a steady supply of third-party certified wood from well-managed forests. This is especially important because of the growing demand for green building and responsible paper purchasing at a time when only 10 percent of the world’s forests are certified.

Forest Stewardship Council: Forest Stewardship Council uses third party FSC Certifiers to assess forest management using the FSC principles, criteria and standards. Each certifier uses their own evaluative process. Certifiers evaluate both forest management activities (forest certification) and tracking of forest products (chain-of-custody certification). There are 12 FSC-accredited certifiers around the globe. The USGBC's LEED rating system has a long history of approving the FSC's certification.

Cradle to Cradle:
Cradle to Cradle Certification provides a company with a means to tangibly, credibly measure achievement in environmentally-intelligent design and helps customers purchase and specify products that are pursuing a broader definition of quality.

This means using environmentally safe and healthy materials; design for material reutilization, such as recycling or composting; the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency; efficient use of water, and maximum water quality associated with production; and instituting strategies for social responsibility.

If a candidate product achieves the necessary criteria, it is certified as a Silver, Gold or Platinum product or as a Technical/Biological Nutrient (available for homogeneous materials or less complex products), and can be branded as Cradle to Cradle.

Indoor Advantage:
The VOC criteria for the Indoor Advantage certification are based on emission criteria established in the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA) Standard for Low-Emitting Office Furniture Systems and Seating (ANSI/BIFMA X7.1) and the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Commercial Interiors Credit for Indoor Enviromental Quality 4.5 for furniture and seating (LEED CI IEQ 4.5 Low Emitting Materials Furniture and Seating).

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