In the second paragraph, replace the third sentence with the following: The sustainable purchasing policy must adhere to the LEED 2009 forExisting Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model located inthe Introduction section of this Reference Guide.
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Dan Ackerstein
Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC
Principal
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Have in place an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) policy that includes, at a minimum, product purchasing policies for the building and site addressing the requirements of MR Credit 1: Sustainable Purchasing—Ongoing Consumables. This policy must adhere to the LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model (see Introduction). At a minimum, the policy must cover those product purchases that are within the building and site management’s control. Additionally, extend the EPP policy to include product purchasing policies for the building and site addressing the requirements of at least 1 of the credits listed below. This extended policy must also adhere to the LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model and specifically address the goal, scope and performance metric for the respective credit:
- MR Credit 2.1: Sustainable Purchasing—Electric-Powered Equipment
- MR Credit 2.2: Sustainable Purchasing—Furniture
- MR Credit 3: Sustainable Purchasing—Facility Alterations and Additions
- MR Credit 4: Sustainable Purchasing—Reduced Mercury in Lamps
What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
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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.
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Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
We already have a purchasing policy that covers most of the required elements of the prerequisite and the LEED-EBOM Policy Model, but not all of them. Do we have to write an entirely new policy?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.) |
Do we have to attempt all of the credits that we include in our policy? What if we attempt them and we don’t earn them?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.) |
We have a multi-tenant building. Do all of our tenants have to adopt the purchasing policy?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
7/19/2010 – 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 first 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
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
4/14/2010 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
In the first 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
11/1/2011
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
The proposed project site is located on a military base that has potentially unexploded ordnance on-site.Protection from potential detonation during construction is required by the federal government to shield pedestrians and existing housing across the street from the project site. As a part of the project, a detonation barrier is to be constructed prior to start of excavation. This barrier can be built using various material but must have substantial foundations and structural strength to withstand large explosion forces. After construction is completed, the detonation barriers would be deconstructed to allow access to the site.The project team is proposing to incorporate salvaged local material into the design of these barrier walls. May the salvaged material qualify for MR credit 5 for regional material, MR credit 4 for recycled content?
Ruling:
The project team has inquired whether materials used for a temporary (during construction) detonation barrier can be included within the project material cost accounting since it is mandated to be built, particularly as it relates to recycled content, local material content, and construction waste management. No, the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building and Construction 2009 Edition Materials and Resources credits 3, 4, 5,and 6 "Include only materials permanently installed in the project" temporarily installed materials are considered equipment and cannot be included in MR Credits 3-6.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
10/17/2006
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
In designing a project for LEED certification, we are planning to specify linoleum sheet flooring in areas of the building. We are requesting that a credit be awarded to this project under LEED EB MRc3 as the flooring will meet VOC emissions requirements of the FloorScore certification program which has more stringent requirements than those required to receive a credit under the CRI Green Label or Green Label Plus programs. We believe that all flooring materials in a building, not just carpet, should have an opportunity to receive credit for meeting stringent VOC emissions requirements. FloorScore is a voluntary, independent certification program that tests and certifies hard surface flooring and associated products for compliance with criteria adopted in California for indoor air emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) with potential health effects. The program uses a small-scale chamber test protocol and incorporates VOC emissions criteria developed by the California Department of Health Services, which are widely known as Section 1350. The FloorScore program was developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) in collaboration with Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) following several years of extensive testing of flooring products produced by resilient flooring manufacturers. The program incorporates California Section 1350 procedures and requirements and adapts them to the certification of flooring products for use in typical buildings. RFCI controls the FloorScore program name and logo. SCS acts as the third-party certifier ensuring program integrity and independence. As part of certification, SCS (1) works with the manufacturer to identify the appropriate samples for testing; (2) reviews VOC emission test reports generated by independent testing laboratories for individual candidate products; (3) determines if the test results meet the California Section 1350 requirements for individual VOCs of concern; and (4) periodically inspects manufacturing plants to review product formulas, processing, and quality control in order to define the permitted use of the FloorScore seal. The basis of the VOC criteria used for FloorScore certification is the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) which has an active program to develop chronic toxicity guidelines for air pollutants. The program uses widely accepted procedures developed by the U.S. EPA and includes extensive peer review and public comment. To date, the program has developed Chronic Reference Exposure Levels (CRELS) for 78 chemical substances. The CRELS are concentrations that assume long-term exposures and include a number of uncertainty factors. These guidelines provide a strong scientific basis for the FloorScore program and are consistent with the intent of MRc3 to "reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, potentially irritating and/or harmful to the comfort and well-being of installers and occupants."
Ruling:
Yes, the proposed alternative compliance path using FloorScore is acceptable for credit achievement according to the following stipulations. 100% of the non-carpet finished flooring must be FloorScore-certified (as described above), and it must comprise, at minimum, at least 25% of the finished floor area. Potential examples of unfinished flooring include floors in mechanical rooms, electrical rooms, and elevator service rooms. This ruling was justified by the technical committee\'s evaluation of the technical resources used as basis for the standard (California and USEPA sources), and adequate benefit. This CIR went through an official USGBC process for the establishment of performance/intent-equivalent alternative compliance paths. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
9/15/2008
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
Our project is an electronics manufacturing facility. In order to reduce the impact to indoor air quality and improve the working environment of the employees, we are in the process of switching to more IAQ friendly building-related products such as carpet, paints, coating, sealants, etc, which helps us pursue MRc3. Further more, during the manufacturing process we have reduced VOCs as much as we can without affecting product quality. We also have procedures and policies in place to continually strive for further reductions as they become available, and have the correct engineering controls to prevent air contamination inside the building. Although LEED does not directly address process-related materials and substances, we think these are the proper things to do in order to provide a better environment for the building occupants. However, at this point, we do use several products that contain VOCs (conformal coating and solvents mostly) but we have significantly reduced VOC amounts (>75%) through chemical substitutions and process eliminations. Those VOCs we do still have are used in areas with proper ventilation (such as fume hoods or inside enclosed and vented equipment) to ensure minimal exposure to employees and immediate venting to the outside of the building. Our 3rd party industrial hygiene survey results prove that the VOC exposure levels for employees are extremely low (
Ruling:
MRc3 products only address building materials covered by the five MRc3 IAQ compliant sustainability criteria that are used for building improvements, including but not limited upgrades, retrofits, renovations or modifications, inside the building. Manufacturing process-related materials are not addressed by LEED-EB MRc3. Significantly reduced manufacturing process-related VOC amounts through chemical substitutions and process eliminations would best be documented through a LEED-EBv2.0 innovation credit. Innovation points may be awarded for programs or actions that provide additional environmental benefits beyond those already addressed by the LEED-EB credits and prerequisites. Documentation submittals must include a narrative that includes at a minimum: 1. A complete description of the strategy and/or achievement that fully defines the extra sustainability operations & maintenance practices taken by the project team. 2. A clear explanation of the additional environmental benefits delivered by the measure over the performance period and how the team\'s actions caused them to occur. 3. A definition of the performance metrics that quantify the extra environmental benefits, and the corresponding amount of benefits delivered over the performance period because of the team\'s actions. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
10/1/2012
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
We are performing a comparative analysis for fiberglass insulation regarding MR Credit 4: Recycled Content. Depending on the manufacturer, recycled content is reported either a plant- and product-specific average, or a country-wide average (various plants and products). We have contacted a manufacturer using North American average recycled content claims, and they state that the recycled content across their facilities and product lines can range from 0-70%. Are country-wide recycled content averages acceptable as documentation for MR Credit 4: Recycled Content? If country-wide averages are not acceptable, what level of specificity is acceptable?
Ruling:
***Update 1/1/13: The original ruling is no longer valid and has been superseded by the language below. The project team is requesting clarification regarding the documentation of recycled content for Materials and Resources Credit 4: Recycled Content. Recycled content claims must be specific to the installed product. The installed product refers to a unique product distinguished by color, type, and/or location of manufacture as identified to the consumer by SKU or other means. It is acceptable to use an average recycled content value stated by a single manufacturer for a single product. Recycled content claims for custom products are required to be product specific; industry wide or national averages are not acceptable for the purposes of LEED documentation. Note, for the purposes of LEED, steel has a previously established industry average of 25% post-consumer recycled content which does not require documentation on a per product basis. In all cases, if recycled content is given as a range then the lowest recycled-content percentage will be used for LEED documentation. Applicable Internationally.Original Ruling: The project team is inquiring about the acceptability of using a country wide average value for recycled content of a product. An average recycled-content claim, especially one that incorporates multiple product lines or places of manufacture, does not meet the credit intent and is not acceptable for LEED documentation. The product that is known to have zero recycled-content may be unduly benefiting from the recycled-content of other products/manufacturing facilities. Recycled-content claims must be specific to the installed product (and therefore place of manufacture), regional or national claims do not meet credit requirements. If product-specific recycled content is given as a range, then the lowest possible actual recycled-content number must be declared for LEED documentation. GBCI recognizes that this presents a challenge to design and construction teams as it is often not possible to specify or even identify-- the location of manufacture for a number of materials. It is hoped that manufacturers will respond to market demand for useful, credible product information. Note that this ruling does not apply to steel products, which have an established average recycled content of 25% and do not require documentation on a per product basis when that value is used in the LEED calculator. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
4/17/2009
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
The building we are applying for LEED-EB O&M certification is an office building located on a "campus" with other building facilities. Lamps for the lighting fixtures are purchased by a building management contractor for this campus as a whole and then distributed to each individual building. No tracking mechanism for the purchasing for each individual building is in place; however, the building is set up to track how often a lamp is being replaced and a total count of lamps for each building is available. To track reduced mercury content in lamps we are proposing that a policy be set in place for the campus as a whole to ensure that the inventory of lamps purchased meets credit requirements. In addition, while the actual number of lamps installed in a building is not tracked, we propose that the quantity of lamps is able to be tracked via disposal quantities. Each lamp that is removed from the building is recycled through a hazardous waste management program and inventoried when packaged for disposal. In addition, building changes that result in a change in the total number of lamps in the building will be documented through the respective material purchasing and waste disposal credits and the documents supporting this credit will be updated accordingly.
Ruling:
The project team seeks clarification regarding the use of campus-wide lamp purchasing program to achieve MR Prerequisite 1. The approach described above is adequate to achieve MR Prerequisite 1. However, to be eligible for points under the associated credit (MR Credit 4), the project team must show compliance based on a building-level picogram per lumen hour mercury values stemming from actual installed lamp types and quantities. This requires an inventory of all lamp types and quantities installed within the project building, a purchasing plan based on the inventory demonstrating that lamps models purchased through campus procurement for the project building meet the target mercury content, and evidence that lamps newly installed in the project building during the LEED performance period also meet the target mercury content (the performance period must encompass some lamp replacement activities in order to be eligible for the credit). Without assessing the number and type (e.g., 42" T-8) of lamps installed in the project building, it is not possible to perform the calculations associated with MR Credit 4. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Have in place an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) policy that includes, at a minimum, product purchasing policies for the building and site addressing the requirements of MR Credit 1: Sustainable Purchasing—Ongoing Consumables. This policy must adhere to the LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model (see Introduction). At a minimum, the policy must cover those product purchases that are within the building and site management’s control. Additionally, extend the EPP policy to include product purchasing policies for the building and site addressing the requirements of at least 1 of the credits listed below. This extended policy must also adhere to the LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model and specifically address the goal, scope and performance metric for the respective credit:
- MR Credit 2.1: Sustainable Purchasing—Electric-Powered Equipment
- MR Credit 2.2: Sustainable Purchasing—Furniture
- MR Credit 3: Sustainable Purchasing—Facility Alterations and Additions
- MR Credit 4: Sustainable Purchasing—Reduced Mercury in Lamps
XX%
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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.
We already have a purchasing policy that covers most of the required elements of the prerequisite and the LEED-EBOM Policy Model, but not all of them. Do we have to write an entirely new policy?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.) |
Do we have to attempt all of the credits that we include in our policy? What if we attempt them and we don’t earn them?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.) |
We have a multi-tenant building. Do all of our tenants have to adopt the purchasing policy?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.) |
7/19/2010 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
In the second paragraph, replace the third sentence with the following: The sustainable purchasing policy must adhere to the LEED 2009 forExisting Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model located inthe Introduction section of this Reference Guide.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
4/14/2010 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
In the first 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
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
4/14/2010 – Updated: 2/14/2015
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
In the first 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
11/1/2011
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
The proposed project site is located on a military base that has potentially unexploded ordnance on-site.Protection from potential detonation during construction is required by the federal government to shield pedestrians and existing housing across the street from the project site. As a part of the project, a detonation barrier is to be constructed prior to start of excavation. This barrier can be built using various material but must have substantial foundations and structural strength to withstand large explosion forces. After construction is completed, the detonation barriers would be deconstructed to allow access to the site.The project team is proposing to incorporate salvaged local material into the design of these barrier walls. May the salvaged material qualify for MR credit 5 for regional material, MR credit 4 for recycled content?
Ruling:
The project team has inquired whether materials used for a temporary (during construction) detonation barrier can be included within the project material cost accounting since it is mandated to be built, particularly as it relates to recycled content, local material content, and construction waste management. No, the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building and Construction 2009 Edition Materials and Resources credits 3, 4, 5,and 6 "Include only materials permanently installed in the project" temporarily installed materials are considered equipment and cannot be included in MR Credits 3-6.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
10/17/2006
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
In designing a project for LEED certification, we are planning to specify linoleum sheet flooring in areas of the building. We are requesting that a credit be awarded to this project under LEED EB MRc3 as the flooring will meet VOC emissions requirements of the FloorScore certification program which has more stringent requirements than those required to receive a credit under the CRI Green Label or Green Label Plus programs. We believe that all flooring materials in a building, not just carpet, should have an opportunity to receive credit for meeting stringent VOC emissions requirements. FloorScore is a voluntary, independent certification program that tests and certifies hard surface flooring and associated products for compliance with criteria adopted in California for indoor air emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) with potential health effects. The program uses a small-scale chamber test protocol and incorporates VOC emissions criteria developed by the California Department of Health Services, which are widely known as Section 1350. The FloorScore program was developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) in collaboration with Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) following several years of extensive testing of flooring products produced by resilient flooring manufacturers. The program incorporates California Section 1350 procedures and requirements and adapts them to the certification of flooring products for use in typical buildings. RFCI controls the FloorScore program name and logo. SCS acts as the third-party certifier ensuring program integrity and independence. As part of certification, SCS (1) works with the manufacturer to identify the appropriate samples for testing; (2) reviews VOC emission test reports generated by independent testing laboratories for individual candidate products; (3) determines if the test results meet the California Section 1350 requirements for individual VOCs of concern; and (4) periodically inspects manufacturing plants to review product formulas, processing, and quality control in order to define the permitted use of the FloorScore seal. The basis of the VOC criteria used for FloorScore certification is the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) which has an active program to develop chronic toxicity guidelines for air pollutants. The program uses widely accepted procedures developed by the U.S. EPA and includes extensive peer review and public comment. To date, the program has developed Chronic Reference Exposure Levels (CRELS) for 78 chemical substances. The CRELS are concentrations that assume long-term exposures and include a number of uncertainty factors. These guidelines provide a strong scientific basis for the FloorScore program and are consistent with the intent of MRc3 to "reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, potentially irritating and/or harmful to the comfort and well-being of installers and occupants."
Ruling:
Yes, the proposed alternative compliance path using FloorScore is acceptable for credit achievement according to the following stipulations. 100% of the non-carpet finished flooring must be FloorScore-certified (as described above), and it must comprise, at minimum, at least 25% of the finished floor area. Potential examples of unfinished flooring include floors in mechanical rooms, electrical rooms, and elevator service rooms. This ruling was justified by the technical committee\'s evaluation of the technical resources used as basis for the standard (California and USEPA sources), and adequate benefit. This CIR went through an official USGBC process for the establishment of performance/intent-equivalent alternative compliance paths. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
9/15/2008
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
Our project is an electronics manufacturing facility. In order to reduce the impact to indoor air quality and improve the working environment of the employees, we are in the process of switching to more IAQ friendly building-related products such as carpet, paints, coating, sealants, etc, which helps us pursue MRc3. Further more, during the manufacturing process we have reduced VOCs as much as we can without affecting product quality. We also have procedures and policies in place to continually strive for further reductions as they become available, and have the correct engineering controls to prevent air contamination inside the building. Although LEED does not directly address process-related materials and substances, we think these are the proper things to do in order to provide a better environment for the building occupants. However, at this point, we do use several products that contain VOCs (conformal coating and solvents mostly) but we have significantly reduced VOC amounts (>75%) through chemical substitutions and process eliminations. Those VOCs we do still have are used in areas with proper ventilation (such as fume hoods or inside enclosed and vented equipment) to ensure minimal exposure to employees and immediate venting to the outside of the building. Our 3rd party industrial hygiene survey results prove that the VOC exposure levels for employees are extremely low (
Ruling:
MRc3 products only address building materials covered by the five MRc3 IAQ compliant sustainability criteria that are used for building improvements, including but not limited upgrades, retrofits, renovations or modifications, inside the building. Manufacturing process-related materials are not addressed by LEED-EB MRc3. Significantly reduced manufacturing process-related VOC amounts through chemical substitutions and process eliminations would best be documented through a LEED-EBv2.0 innovation credit. Innovation points may be awarded for programs or actions that provide additional environmental benefits beyond those already addressed by the LEED-EB credits and prerequisites. Documentation submittals must include a narrative that includes at a minimum: 1. A complete description of the strategy and/or achievement that fully defines the extra sustainability operations & maintenance practices taken by the project team. 2. A clear explanation of the additional environmental benefits delivered by the measure over the performance period and how the team\'s actions caused them to occur. 3. A definition of the performance metrics that quantify the extra environmental benefits, and the corresponding amount of benefits delivered over the performance period because of the team\'s actions. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
10/1/2012
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
We are performing a comparative analysis for fiberglass insulation regarding MR Credit 4: Recycled Content. Depending on the manufacturer, recycled content is reported either a plant- and product-specific average, or a country-wide average (various plants and products). We have contacted a manufacturer using North American average recycled content claims, and they state that the recycled content across their facilities and product lines can range from 0-70%. Are country-wide recycled content averages acceptable as documentation for MR Credit 4: Recycled Content? If country-wide averages are not acceptable, what level of specificity is acceptable?
Ruling:
***Update 1/1/13: The original ruling is no longer valid and has been superseded by the language below. The project team is requesting clarification regarding the documentation of recycled content for Materials and Resources Credit 4: Recycled Content. Recycled content claims must be specific to the installed product. The installed product refers to a unique product distinguished by color, type, and/or location of manufacture as identified to the consumer by SKU or other means. It is acceptable to use an average recycled content value stated by a single manufacturer for a single product. Recycled content claims for custom products are required to be product specific; industry wide or national averages are not acceptable for the purposes of LEED documentation. Note, for the purposes of LEED, steel has a previously established industry average of 25% post-consumer recycled content which does not require documentation on a per product basis. In all cases, if recycled content is given as a range then the lowest recycled-content percentage will be used for LEED documentation. Applicable Internationally.Original Ruling: The project team is inquiring about the acceptability of using a country wide average value for recycled content of a product. An average recycled-content claim, especially one that incorporates multiple product lines or places of manufacture, does not meet the credit intent and is not acceptable for LEED documentation. The product that is known to have zero recycled-content may be unduly benefiting from the recycled-content of other products/manufacturing facilities. Recycled-content claims must be specific to the installed product (and therefore place of manufacture), regional or national claims do not meet credit requirements. If product-specific recycled content is given as a range, then the lowest possible actual recycled-content number must be declared for LEED documentation. GBCI recognizes that this presents a challenge to design and construction teams as it is often not possible to specify or even identify-- the location of manufacture for a number of materials. It is hoped that manufacturers will respond to market demand for useful, credible product information. Note that this ruling does not apply to steel products, which have an established average recycled content of 25% and do not require documentation on a per product basis when that value is used in the LEED calculator. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
4/17/2009
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:
The building we are applying for LEED-EB O&M certification is an office building located on a "campus" with other building facilities. Lamps for the lighting fixtures are purchased by a building management contractor for this campus as a whole and then distributed to each individual building. No tracking mechanism for the purchasing for each individual building is in place; however, the building is set up to track how often a lamp is being replaced and a total count of lamps for each building is available. To track reduced mercury content in lamps we are proposing that a policy be set in place for the campus as a whole to ensure that the inventory of lamps purchased meets credit requirements. In addition, while the actual number of lamps installed in a building is not tracked, we propose that the quantity of lamps is able to be tracked via disposal quantities. Each lamp that is removed from the building is recycled through a hazardous waste management program and inventoried when packaged for disposal. In addition, building changes that result in a change in the total number of lamps in the building will be documented through the respective material purchasing and waste disposal credits and the documents supporting this credit will be updated accordingly.
Ruling:
The project team seeks clarification regarding the use of campus-wide lamp purchasing program to achieve MR Prerequisite 1. The approach described above is adequate to achieve MR Prerequisite 1. However, to be eligible for points under the associated credit (MR Credit 4), the project team must show compliance based on a building-level picogram per lumen hour mercury values stemming from actual installed lamp types and quantities. This requires an inventory of all lamp types and quantities installed within the project building, a purchasing plan based on the inventory demonstrating that lamps models purchased through campus procurement for the project building meet the target mercury content, and evidence that lamps newly installed in the project building during the LEED performance period also meet the target mercury content (the performance period must encompass some lamp replacement activities in order to be eligible for the credit). Without assessing the number and type (e.g., 42" T-8) of lamps installed in the project building, it is not possible to perform the calculations associated with MR Credit 4. Applicable Internationally.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
LEEDuser expert
Dan Ackerstein
Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC
Principal
