FSC Certifications. In 2007, Mullican also began working to meet the certification standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the world’s oldest and most viable organization devoted to environmentally friendly forestry. By 2009, we had become the first American hardwood floor manufacturer in the industry to produce a hardwood floor  that was certified FSC 100-percent PURE. Today, all four of Mullican’s manufacturing plants hold FSC chain-of-custody designations, and we have brought more than 30 FSC-PURE products to the market – including engineered and exotic floor selections, in addition to solid domestic. All of these products carry the FSC 100 percent-PURE logo, which means that all entities in Mullican’s supply chain for these products, from the Appalachian forestlands that we harvest to our distributors, also hold FSC certification credentials and meet FSC standards. Mullican products that are FSC PURE can be used by builders and architects who are working on LEED projects, which require that 50 percent of their wood-based materials be FSC-certified. LEED certification is a rating system established by the U.S. Green Building Council for assessing environmentally sustainable construction. Through this system, builders can acquire credits or points on projects if specific “green” standards are met, such as the use of FSC-PURE wood products. For more information on the FSC and the certification process, visit www.fsc.org or visit the homepage of the U.S. Green Building Council

NWFA Responsible Procurement Program (RPP). Mullican has also actively pursued and helped develop a new Responsible Procurement Program (RPP), which was established jointly in 2009 by the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) and the FSC. The goal of the RPP is to promote environmentally and socially responsible forest management around the world. Although the RPP is considered a transitional step toward higher levels of certification in the industry (such as FSC PURE), Mullican put forth the effort to achieve two RPP designations: NWFA Renewing Resource for its domestic products and NWFA Legal origins for imported products. The RPP involves a three-tier advancement process. Basically, Tier 1 requires participation in the RPP Chain-of-Custody program and compliance with the Lacey Act (see below); Tier 2 involves meeting requirements for FSC Chain-of-Custody certification and a commitment to building, over time, sales in FSC-certified wood products; and Tier 3 recognizes companies whose sales in FSC-certified products exceeds 50 percent of all their overall sales.