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LEED v4
Existing Buildings
Materials and Resources
Ongoing purchasing and waste policy

LEED CREDIT

EBOM-v4 MRp1: Ongoing purchasing and waste policy Required

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Dan Ackerstein

Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC
Principal

SPECIAL REPORT

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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Establishment

Environmentally preferable purchasing
Have in place an environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) policy for products purchased during regular operations of the building. Include at a minimum:
  • Ongoing Purchases
    • The five most purchased product categories based on total annual purchases.
    • Paper, toner cartridges, binders, batteries, and desk accessories.
    • Lamps (indoor and outdoor, hard-wired and portable fixtures)
    • Food (required for EBOM Schools and Hospitality only)
  • Durable Goods Purchases
    • Office equipment, appliances, and audiovisual equipment
    • Electric powered equipment
The policy should address the criteria in the following credits:
  • Materials and Resources Credit: Purchasing—Ongoing
  • Materials and Resources Credit: Purchasing—Lamps
The policy must cover at least those product purchases within the building and site management’s control.
Solid Waste Management
Establish storage locations for recyclable materials, including mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals. Establish safe storage areas for batteries and mercury-containing lamps. Have in place an environmentally preferable solid waste management policy that addresses reuse, recycling, or composting of products purchased during regular operations of the building. Include at a minimum:
  • Ongoing waste
    • The five most purchased product categories based on total annual purchases.
    • Food (required for EBOM Schools and Hospitality only)
  • Durable goods waste
    • Office equipment, appliances, and audiovisual equipment
    • Electric powered equipment
  • Hazardous Waste
    • Safe disposal of batteries and lamps (indoor and outdoor, hard-wired and portable fixtures)
The policy must cover at least those product purchases within the building and site management’s control.

Performance

Maintain a high-performing solid waste management program by conducting a waste stream audit of ongoing consumables at least once every five years or by diverting 75% of ongoing waste and achieving Materials and Resources Credit Solid Waste Management—Ongoing. See all forum discussions about this credit »

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.

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

We already do a waste audit every year. Will this audit count for LEED compliance?

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.)

I don’t know what my tenants are purchasing, so how do I determine the building’s top five product categories?

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.)
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Addenda

7/8/2017 – Updated: 7/18/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Under Campus, Group Approach, change "Submit separate documentation for each building." to "All buildings in the group may be documented as one."
Under Campus Approach, add "Eligible. The same policy (and Retail approach, when applicable) may be used for all of the buildings within the LEED campus boundary. The policy must address any sub‐sets of purchasing habits and waste streams (such as for different project types within the campus). ".
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
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Documentation toolkit

The motherlode of cheat sheets

LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.

LEEDuser expert

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Dan Ackerstein

Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC
Principal

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USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Establishment

Environmentally preferable purchasing
Have in place an environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) policy for products purchased during regular operations of the building. Include at a minimum:
  • Ongoing Purchases
    • The five most purchased product categories based on total annual purchases.
    • Paper, toner cartridges, binders, batteries, and desk accessories.
    • Lamps (indoor and outdoor, hard-wired and portable fixtures)
    • Food (required for EBOM Schools and Hospitality only)
  • Durable Goods Purchases
    • Office equipment, appliances, and audiovisual equipment
    • Electric powered equipment
The policy should address the criteria in the following credits:
  • Materials and Resources Credit: Purchasing—Ongoing
  • Materials and Resources Credit: Purchasing—Lamps
The policy must cover at least those product purchases within the building and site management’s control.
Solid Waste Management
Establish storage locations for recyclable materials, including mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals. Establish safe storage areas for batteries and mercury-containing lamps. Have in place an environmentally preferable solid waste management policy that addresses reuse, recycling, or composting of products purchased during regular operations of the building. Include at a minimum:
  • Ongoing waste
    • The five most purchased product categories based on total annual purchases.
    • Food (required for EBOM Schools and Hospitality only)
  • Durable goods waste
    • Office equipment, appliances, and audiovisual equipment
    • Electric powered equipment
  • Hazardous Waste
    • Safe disposal of batteries and lamps (indoor and outdoor, hard-wired and portable fixtures)
The policy must cover at least those product purchases within the building and site management’s control.

Performance

Maintain a high-performing solid waste management program by conducting a waste stream audit of ongoing consumables at least once every five years or by diverting 75% of ongoing waste and achieving Materials and Resources Credit Solid Waste Management—Ongoing.

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 do a waste audit every year. Will this audit count for LEED compliance?

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.)

I don’t know what my tenants are purchasing, so how do I determine the building’s top five product categories?

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.)
7/8/2017 – Updated: 7/18/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Under Campus, Group Approach, change "Submit separate documentation for each building." to "All buildings in the group may be documented as one."
Under Campus Approach, add "Eligible. The same policy (and Retail approach, when applicable) may be used for all of the buildings within the LEED campus boundary. The policy must address any sub‐sets of purchasing habits and waste streams (such as for different project types within the campus). ".
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

headshot

Dan Ackerstein

Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC
Principal

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about EBOM-v4 MRp1