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LEED v4
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Materials and Resources
Environmentally preferable products

LEED CREDIT

Homes-v4 MRc2: Environmentally preferable products 0.5-4 points

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Credit language

USGBC logo

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

Requirements

Use building component materials that meet one or more of the criteria below. A material must make up 90% of the component by weight or volume, except as noted. A single component that meets Option 1 and Option 2 can earn points for each.

Option 1. Local production
Use products that were extracted, processed, and manufactured locally for the following components. Meet the thresholds in Table 1:
  • framing (0.5 point);
  • aggregate for concrete and foundation (0.5 point);
  • drywall or interior sheathing (0.5 point).
Table 1: Percentage of component to meet local credit

Maximum distance from extraction, processing and manufacturing to project site:

% of building component required to meet criteria (0.5 points per component)

Locally: 100 miles (160 km)

50%

For renovation projects, existing components meet the requirement for local production.

AND/OR

Option 2. Environmentally preferable products
Use products that meet one or more of the following criteria. At least 90% of each compliant building component (listed in Table 2), by weight or volume, must meet one of the requirements below. A single component that meets more than one criterion does not earn additional credit.
  • The product contains at least 25% reclaimed material, including salvaged, refurbished, or reused materials. For renovation projects, existing components are considered reclaimed. Wood by-products can be counted as reclaimed material. These include items from secondary manufacturers; felled, diseased, or dead trees from urban or suburban areas; orchard trees that are unproductive and cut for replacement; and wood recovered from landfills or water bodies.
  • The product contains at least 25% postconsumer or 50% preconsumer content.
  • Wood products must be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified, or USGBC-approved equivalent.
  • Bio-based materials. Bio-based products must meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Bio-based raw materials must be tested using ASTM Test Method D6866 and be legally harvested, as defined by the exporting and receiving country. Exclude hide products, such as leather and other animal skin material.
  • Concrete that consists of at least 30% fly ash or slag used as a cement substitute and 50% recycled content or reclaimed aggregate OR 90% recycled content or reclaimed aggregate.
  • Extended producer responsibility. Products purchased from a manufacturer (producer) that participates in an extended producer responsibility program or is directly responsible for extended producer responsibility.
Table 2. Maximum points for compliant building components

Component

Maximum points

Flooring - Base floor only (i.e., sealed concrete, no floor covering)

2

Floor covering

1

Insulation*

1

Sheathing

1

Framing

1

Drywall, interior finish

1

Concrete:  cement and / or aggregate

1

Roofing

1

Siding

1

Additional components (install at least 3 of the following):

  • Doors (not including insulated doors or garage door)
  • Cabinets
  • Counters (kitchens and bathrooms)
  • Interior trim
  • Decking or patio material
  • Windows

1

* Excluding HVAC and pipe insulation.

Pilot Alternative Compliance Path Available

The following pilot alternative compliance paths is available for this credit. See the pilot credit library for more information. MRpc102 - Legal Wood
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 »

Addenda

10/2/2017Updated: 10/20/2017
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Please add the following paragraph titled Extended Producer Responsibility

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a waste management strategy that promotes integrating the life-cycle environmental costs associated with goods into the market price of the products. EPR is an approach for products in which producer or manufacturer' s responsibility for the product is extended to post-consumer stage of product' s life cycle, generally this entails take-back or recycling program run by manufacturer that includes the product under consideration. Apart from the manufacturer' s programs, there may also be third party programs in which a separate business may collect the product or materials and sell or transport it back to the manufacturer/producer of product. Documentation can be sought to confirm extended manufacturer responsibility or program run by third party affiliated with manufacturer in form of program brochures, specific product inclusion in program or recycling details.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
10/1/2014Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Under first paragraph remove "(0.5 point per item)." Also, under Option 2: Environmentally Preferable Products section, remove "(0.5 points each)".
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
10/1/2014Updated: 2/14/2015
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Under first paragraph remove "(0.5 point per item)." Also, under Option 2: Environmentally Preferable Products section, remove "(0.5 points each)".
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
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.

USGBC logo

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

Requirements

Use building component materials that meet one or more of the criteria below. A material must make up 90% of the component by weight or volume, except as noted. A single component that meets Option 1 and Option 2 can earn points for each.

Option 1. Local production
Use products that were extracted, processed, and manufactured locally for the following components. Meet the thresholds in Table 1:
  • framing (0.5 point);
  • aggregate for concrete and foundation (0.5 point);
  • drywall or interior sheathing (0.5 point).
Table 1: Percentage of component to meet local credit

Maximum distance from extraction, processing and manufacturing to project site:

% of building component required to meet criteria (0.5 points per component)

Locally: 100 miles (160 km)

50%

For renovation projects, existing components meet the requirement for local production.

AND/OR

Option 2. Environmentally preferable products
Use products that meet one or more of the following criteria. At least 90% of each compliant building component (listed in Table 2), by weight or volume, must meet one of the requirements below. A single component that meets more than one criterion does not earn additional credit.
  • The product contains at least 25% reclaimed material, including salvaged, refurbished, or reused materials. For renovation projects, existing components are considered reclaimed. Wood by-products can be counted as reclaimed material. These include items from secondary manufacturers; felled, diseased, or dead trees from urban or suburban areas; orchard trees that are unproductive and cut for replacement; and wood recovered from landfills or water bodies.
  • The product contains at least 25% postconsumer or 50% preconsumer content.
  • Wood products must be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified, or USGBC-approved equivalent.
  • Bio-based materials. Bio-based products must meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Bio-based raw materials must be tested using ASTM Test Method D6866 and be legally harvested, as defined by the exporting and receiving country. Exclude hide products, such as leather and other animal skin material.
  • Concrete that consists of at least 30% fly ash or slag used as a cement substitute and 50% recycled content or reclaimed aggregate OR 90% recycled content or reclaimed aggregate.
  • Extended producer responsibility. Products purchased from a manufacturer (producer) that participates in an extended producer responsibility program or is directly responsible for extended producer responsibility.
Table 2. Maximum points for compliant building components

Component

Maximum points

Flooring - Base floor only (i.e., sealed concrete, no floor covering)

2

Floor covering

1

Insulation*

1

Sheathing

1

Framing

1

Drywall, interior finish

1

Concrete:  cement and / or aggregate

1

Roofing

1

Siding

1

Additional components (install at least 3 of the following):

  • Doors (not including insulated doors or garage door)
  • Cabinets
  • Counters (kitchens and bathrooms)
  • Interior trim
  • Decking or patio material
  • Windows

1

* Excluding HVAC and pipe insulation.

Pilot Alternative Compliance Path Available

The following pilot alternative compliance paths is available for this credit. See the pilot credit library for more information. MRpc102 - Legal Wood
See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Unsubscribe from discussions about Homes-v4 MRc2