Bullitt Center Earns FSC Project Certification

First Commercial Building in the US to Earn FSC® Project Certification

SEATTLE – The Bullitt Center, which is the first heavy-timber office building in Seattle since the early 20th century, is also the first commercial building in the U.S. to earn Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC) Project Certification. At a time when the commercial building industry is looking to wood as a climate-friendly material, the Bullitt Center shows it’s possible to build entirely with wood from responsibly managed forests.

“When it comes from a FSC certified forest, wood is arguably the most environmentally friendly building material,” said Bullitt Foundation CEO, Denis Hayes. “The Bullitt Center is about doing everything right, from the solar array on the roof to the geothermal wells in the ground. When we looked at the wood, FSC was the only way to go,” he added.

The Bullitt Center is designed to last 250 years, sequestering tons of carbon in its heavy timber structure. The design team weighed the benefits of using wood versus other building materials, settling on wood because of its renewability, natural beauty, strength and ability to sequester carbon through the life of the building.

The FSC Project Certification involves an independent assessment that 100 percent of the wood used in the Bullitt Center is from FSC certified sources. Soil Association Woodmark conducted the onsite audits and certification of the Bullitt Center’s core and shell (Certificate Registration Code: SA-PRO-003818).

The Bullitt Center is pursuing the Living Building Challenge (LBC), which is considered the most rigorous benchmark for sustainability in the built environment. In contrast to other green building programs, the LBC requires all wood to be FSC certified or from salvaged sources. As a result, there is a natural opportunity for projects pursuing Living Building status to also earn FSC Project Certification.

With deforestation still a problem in the U.S. and around the world, FSC Project Certification provides third-party assurance that all wood is from responsible sources, and it allows the Bullitt Center to use the FSC logo in public communications.

The Bullitt Center team, through general contractor Schuchart Corporation, procured wood products from Matheus Lumber in Woodinville, WA, including Glulam timbers from Calvert Glulam, dimensional lumber from Potlatch, small timbers from Elk Creek Forest products, structural plywood from Roseburg Forest Products and recycled lumber from Rhine Demolition.

In November 2012, the Bullitt Center won the “Design & Build with FSC Award” for commercial project of the year.

View the Certificate of Registration and Product Schedule.

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