Replace "U.S. EPA WasteWise Program" title, website and description with the following:U.S. EPA WasteWise Programwww.epa.gov/wastewiseWasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that U.S. organizations can use to track, manage, and reduce their municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes.
See all forum discussions about this credit »
Credit achievement rate
XX%
Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »
LEEDuser expert
Trista Brown
LEED AP O+M, BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador
WSP USA
Project Director
LEEDuser’s viewpoint
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Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Conduct a waste stream audit of the building’s entire ongoing consumables waste stream (not durable goods or construction waste for facility alterations and additions). Use the audit’s results to establish a baseline that identifies the types of waste making up the waste stream and the amounts of each type by weight or volume. Identify opportunities for increased recycling and waste diversion. The audit must be conducted during the performance period.
See all forum discussions about this credit »What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
Can the waste audit include a sample selection of waste generated at the project building (i.e. waste from the first floor only)?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
Does food waste need to be sorted through?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
If a tenant in the project building pays a paper shredding company to shred and dispose of confidential documents, does the shredded paper waste need to be accounted for in the waste audit?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
A project building conducted a waste audit over two years ago. Can the project team use that waste audit to comply with the requirements of MRc6?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
Addenda
5/9/2011 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
4/14/2010 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
In the second bulleted item, replace the text "MR Credit 2: Sustainable Purchasing - Durable Goods" with "MR Credit 2.1: Sustainable Purchasing - Electric-Powered Equipment" and, below as a new bulleted item, "MR Credit 2.2: Sustainable Purchasing - Furniture"
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
5/9/2011 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Replace "U.S. EPA WasteWise Program" title, website and description with the following:U.S. EPA WasteWise Programwww.epa.gov/wastewiseWasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that U.S. organizations can use to track, manage, and reduce their municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/1/2016
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
If a building has earned TRUE Certification, can that certification be used to document LEED Operations and Maintenance credits?
Ruling:
Yes, if a building has earned TRUE certification and the scope of the project (i.e. project boundary) is the same as a project pursuing LEED Operations and Maintenance certification, the TRUE certification can be used to document the following LEED credits, provided the corresponding TRUE credit is earned. A final review report for the TRUE Certification must be provided to demonstrate specific credit achievement.
LEED EB: O+M 2009
MR prerequisite 2: Solid Waste Management Policy; USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit 6: Solid Waste Management – Waste Stream Audit; Zero Waste Analysis, Credit 1
MR credit 7: Solid Waste Management - Ongoing Consumables; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5
Innovation in Operations credit 1 for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved
LEED v4
MR prerequisite: Ongoing Purchasing and Waste Policy (waste policy portion only); USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3
Innovation credit for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved
***Updated 9.30.2021
• Replace all references to USZWBC with TRUE
• Replace “scorecard” with “final review report”
• Under "LEED v4", on the line "MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing" change "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5" to "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3"
Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
Checklists
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Conduct a waste stream audit of the building’s entire ongoing consumables waste stream (not durable goods or construction waste for facility alterations and additions). Use the audit’s results to establish a baseline that identifies the types of waste making up the waste stream and the amounts of each type by weight or volume. Identify opportunities for increased recycling and waste diversion. The audit must be conducted during the performance period.
XX%
Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »
Got the gist of MRc6 but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Premium members get:
- Checklists covering all the key action steps you'll need to earn the credit.
- Hot tips to give you shortcuts and avoid pitfalls.
- Cost tips to assess what a credit will actually cost, and how to make it affordable.
- Ideas for going beyond LEED with best practices.
- All checklists organized by project phase.
- On-the-fly suggestions of useful items from the Documentation Toolkit and Credit Language.
In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:
- Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
- Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
- Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
- Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
- Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
- Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.
Can the waste audit include a sample selection of waste generated at the project building (i.e. waste from the first floor only)?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
Does food waste need to be sorted through?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
If a tenant in the project building pays a paper shredding company to shred and dispose of confidential documents, does the shredded paper waste need to be accounted for in the waste audit?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
A project building conducted a waste audit over two years ago. Can the project team use that waste audit to comply with the requirements of MRc6?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
5/9/2011 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Replace "U.S. EPA WasteWise Program" title, website and description with the following:U.S. EPA WasteWise Programwww.epa.gov/wastewiseWasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that U.S. organizations can use to track, manage, and reduce their municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
4/14/2010 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
In the second bulleted item, replace the text "MR Credit 2: Sustainable Purchasing - Durable Goods" with "MR Credit 2.1: Sustainable Purchasing - Electric-Powered Equipment" and, below as a new bulleted item, "MR Credit 2.2: Sustainable Purchasing - Furniture"
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
5/9/2011 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Replace "U.S. EPA WasteWise Program" title, website and description with the following:U.S. EPA WasteWise Programwww.epa.gov/wastewiseWasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that U.S. organizations can use to track, manage, and reduce their municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/1/2016
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
If a building has earned TRUE Certification, can that certification be used to document LEED Operations and Maintenance credits?
Ruling:
Yes, if a building has earned TRUE certification and the scope of the project (i.e. project boundary) is the same as a project pursuing LEED Operations and Maintenance certification, the TRUE certification can be used to document the following LEED credits, provided the corresponding TRUE credit is earned. A final review report for the TRUE Certification must be provided to demonstrate specific credit achievement.
LEED EB: O+M 2009
MR prerequisite 2: Solid Waste Management Policy; USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit 6: Solid Waste Management – Waste Stream Audit; Zero Waste Analysis, Credit 1
MR credit 7: Solid Waste Management - Ongoing Consumables; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5
Innovation in Operations credit 1 for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved
LEED v4
MR prerequisite: Ongoing Purchasing and Waste Policy (waste policy portion only); USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3
Innovation credit for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved
***Updated 9.30.2021
• Replace all references to USZWBC with TRUE
• Replace “scorecard” with “final review report”
• Under "LEED v4", on the line "MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing" change "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5" to "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3"
Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
LEEDuser expert
Trista Brown
LEED AP O+M, BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador
WSP USA
Project Director
