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Legal Wood

LEED CREDIT

Pilot-Credits MRpc102: Legal Wood 1-2 points

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Credit language

USGBC logo

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

Requirements

Option 2. leadership extraction practices (1 point)


This pilot credit is an alternative compliance path to LEED v4.1 Building product disclosure and optimization: sourcing of raw materials - Option 2 (1-2 points).



Pilot ACP text in bold.




Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials (1-2 points)

Use products sourced from at least three different manufacturers that meet at least one of the responsible sourcing and extraction criteria below for at least 15%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed building products in the project (1 point).



Use products sourced from at least five different manufacturers that meet at least one of the responsible sourcing and extraction criteria below for at least 30%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed building products in the project (2 points).




  • 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. Products meeting extended producer responsibility criteria are valued at 50% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

  • Bio-based materials. Bio-based raw materials other than wood 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.

    • Bio-based products that meet the criteria above: value at 50% of cost multiplied by the biobased content of the product for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

    • Bio-based products that meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard: value at 100% of cost multiplied by the biobased content of the product for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.



  • Wood products. Wood products must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or USGBC-approved equivalent. Products meeting wood products criteria are valued at 100% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.


    • Pilot Alternative Compliance Path – Legal Wood

      • Wood products from Certified Sources as defined by ASTM D7612-10 are valued at 100% of their cost for purposes of credit achievement calculation if the following two conditions are also met:

        • 100% of all wood is verified to be from Legal (non-controversial) Sources as defined by ASTM D7612-10. These components include at a minimum, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, sub-flooring, wood doors and finishes.


        • and
        • 70% (based on cost) of all wood used on the project is from Responsible Sources as defined by ASTM D7612-10. These components include at a minimum, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, sub-flooring, wood doors and finishes.







  • Materials reuse. Reuse includes salvaged, refurbished, or reused products. Products meeting materials reuse criteria are valued at 200% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

  • Recycled content. Products meeting recycled content criteria are valued at 100% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.


    For credit achievement calculation, products sourced (extracted, manufactured, purchased) within 100 miles (160 km) of the project site are valued at twice their base contributing cost (or number of products), up to a maximum of 200% of cost, or 2 products.




    Documentation Requirements

    General
    Register for the pilot credit Pilot Credit Survey
    Credit Specific

    Complete the Legal Wood Calculator, found on the resources tab of this credit.

    Survey Questions

    • where is this project located (city, state/province, country)
    • does the country/region the project is located in have existing laws/regulations regarding legal wood? are they effectively enforced?
    • how much wood, relative to other materials, was used on this project (by cost)?
    • prior to attempting this credit, what was your understanding of illegal wood in the buildings industry supply chain in your region?
    • prior to the work the project team did on this credit, was verified legal wood something that was required in any standard project spec used by the project team?
      • if yes, what specific language was used?
      • if no, did the project team develop standard specification language for future use?
    • What specific piece of this ACP was the most difficult:
      • 100% legality verification?
      • 70% responsibly sourced verification?
      • procurement of certified wood?
    • was legality documentation readily available from your upstream wood suppliers?
      • what documentation were they able to provide?
      • was this the first time that a project team asked the supplier for documentation to verify legality for wood?
    • who, on the project team, was responsible for documentation? did the project team need to hire an outside expert to facilitate achievement?
    • Did this credit influence or change the wood that was ultimately used on the project?
    • One of the goals of this ACP is to assess the feasibility of the creation of a prerequisite around legal sourcing of building materials.
      • How transformational do you think a prerequisite requiring legality verification for forest products would be?
      • How feasible do you think a prerequisite requiring legality verification of forest products would be?
      • How feasible do you think legality verification of all materials would be?
    Changes
    • 8/8/2019 - removed "Structure and enclosure materials may not constitute more than 30% of the value of compliant building products."
    • 5/5/21 - updated v4.1 version to align with April 2021 addenda

    Not pursuing this pilot but have a comment you'd like to share with USGBC?

    Click here to submit your comment
  • 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 »

    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.

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    USGBC logo

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

    Requirements

    Option 2. leadership extraction practices (1 point)


    This pilot credit is an alternative compliance path to LEED v4.1 Building product disclosure and optimization: sourcing of raw materials - Option 2 (1-2 points).



    Pilot ACP text in bold.




    Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials (1-2 points)

    Use products sourced from at least three different manufacturers that meet at least one of the responsible sourcing and extraction criteria below for at least 15%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed building products in the project (1 point).



    Use products sourced from at least five different manufacturers that meet at least one of the responsible sourcing and extraction criteria below for at least 30%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed building products in the project (2 points).




    • 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. Products meeting extended producer responsibility criteria are valued at 50% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

    • Bio-based materials. Bio-based raw materials other than wood 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.

      • Bio-based products that meet the criteria above: value at 50% of cost multiplied by the biobased content of the product for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

      • Bio-based products that meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard: value at 100% of cost multiplied by the biobased content of the product for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.



    • Wood products. Wood products must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or USGBC-approved equivalent. Products meeting wood products criteria are valued at 100% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.


      • Pilot Alternative Compliance Path – Legal Wood

        • Wood products from Certified Sources as defined by ASTM D7612-10 are valued at 100% of their cost for purposes of credit achievement calculation if the following two conditions are also met:

          • 100% of all wood is verified to be from Legal (non-controversial) Sources as defined by ASTM D7612-10. These components include at a minimum, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, sub-flooring, wood doors and finishes.


          • and
          • 70% (based on cost) of all wood used on the project is from Responsible Sources as defined by ASTM D7612-10. These components include at a minimum, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, sub-flooring, wood doors and finishes.







  • Materials reuse. Reuse includes salvaged, refurbished, or reused products. Products meeting materials reuse criteria are valued at 200% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

  • Recycled content. Products meeting recycled content criteria are valued at 100% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.


    For credit achievement calculation, products sourced (extracted, manufactured, purchased) within 100 miles (160 km) of the project site are valued at twice their base contributing cost (or number of products), up to a maximum of 200% of cost, or 2 products.




    Documentation Requirements

    General
    Register for the pilot credit Pilot Credit Survey
    Credit Specific

    Complete the Legal Wood Calculator, found on the resources tab of this credit.

    Survey Questions

    • where is this project located (city, state/province, country)
    • does the country/region the project is located in have existing laws/regulations regarding legal wood? are they effectively enforced?
    • how much wood, relative to other materials, was used on this project (by cost)?
    • prior to attempting this credit, what was your understanding of illegal wood in the buildings industry supply chain in your region?
    • prior to the work the project team did on this credit, was verified legal wood something that was required in any standard project spec used by the project team?
      • if yes, what specific language was used?
      • if no, did the project team develop standard specification language for future use?
    • What specific piece of this ACP was the most difficult:
      • 100% legality verification?
      • 70% responsibly sourced verification?
      • procurement of certified wood?
    • was legality documentation readily available from your upstream wood suppliers?
      • what documentation were they able to provide?
      • was this the first time that a project team asked the supplier for documentation to verify legality for wood?
    • who, on the project team, was responsible for documentation? did the project team need to hire an outside expert to facilitate achievement?
    • Did this credit influence or change the wood that was ultimately used on the project?
    • One of the goals of this ACP is to assess the feasibility of the creation of a prerequisite around legal sourcing of building materials.
      • How transformational do you think a prerequisite requiring legality verification for forest products would be?
      • How feasible do you think a prerequisite requiring legality verification of forest products would be?
      • How feasible do you think legality verification of all materials would be?
    Changes
    • 8/8/2019 - removed "Structure and enclosure materials may not constitute more than 30% of the value of compliant building products."
    • 5/5/21 - updated v4.1 version to align with April 2021 addenda

    Not pursuing this pilot but have a comment you'd like to share with USGBC?

    Click here to submit your comment
  • 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.
    See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Pilot-Credits MRpc102