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LEED Pilot Credits
LEED Pilot Credit Library
Materials-Related Pilot Credits
Certified Multi-attribute Products and Materials

LEED CREDIT

Pilot-Credits MRpc112: Certified Multi-attribute Products and Materials 1 point

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Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.

Credit language

USGBC logo

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

Requirements

Use products from manufacturers who have validated multiple environmental attributes relevant to the product via independent, consensus-based, third party certifications. The products must have earned and still maintain certification under the scheme. The manufacturer must publicly disclose the credit achievement results of the product on which the certification has been granted. Use at least 25%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed products in the project. Products will be valued as below. Furniture certified to ANSI/BIFMA e3 can contribute as follows:

  • ANSI/BIFMA e3 – 2014 Furniture Sustainability Standard
    • Level 1 certified products contribute 10% of the total product cost
    • Level 2 certified products contribute 20% of the total product cost
    • Level 3 certified products contribute 40% of the total product cost
In addition, the third party certifications that include credits for life cycle assessment conforming to ISO 14044 and have at least a cradle to gate scope can contribute towards the 25% of permanently installed products according to the list of Approved Programs below. The LCA must assess the following impact categories, at a minimum:
  • global warming potential (greenhouse gases), in kg CO2e;
  • depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, in kg CFC-11;
  • acidification of land and water sources, in moles H+ or kg SO2;
  • eutrophication, in kg nitrogen or kg phosphate;
  • formation of tropospheric ozone, in kg NOx, kg O3 eq, or kg ethene; and
  • depletion of nonrenewable energy resources, in MJ.
Approved 3rd party certifications:
  • ANSI/BIFMA e3 – 2014 Furniture Sustainability Standard*
    • Must achieve credits 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 and
    • Level 1 certified products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Level 2 certified products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Level 3 certified products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 140 – 2015 – Sustainability Assessment for Carpet*
    • Must achieve credit 6.3.3.1 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 332 – 2015 Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings*
    • Must achieve credit two points in 5.2.2 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • Green Squared/ANSI A138.1 – 2011 v2 for ceramic tile, Glass Tiles and Tile Installation Materials*
    • Must achieve credit 3.8.1 and
    • Credit 3.1 Level 1 and/or Credit 3.2 Level 1 products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Credit 3.1 Level 2 and/or Credit 3.2 Level 2 products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Credit 3.1 Level 3 and/or Credit 3.2 Level 3 products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • UL 100 first edition (2012) Standard for Sustainability for Gypsum Board and Panels*
    • Must achieve credit 23.1 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 342 – 2014 Sustainability Assessment for Wallcovering Products*
    • Must achieve credit four points in 5.2.2.1 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 347 - 2012a Sustainability Assessment for Single Ply Roofing Membranes
    • Must achieve credit two points in 5.2.2 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • Other USGBC approved multi-attribute certification programs

Submittals

General
Register for the pilot credit Credits 106-115

Credit Specific Documentation

  • Multi-attribute certification scorecard for each product
  • Cost calculation
  • *This standard is in the process of updating requirements for which impact cat-egories are assessed as part of the LCA. Until that process is complete, sub-mit a copy of the manufacturer’s LCA demonstrating all six impact categories were assessed.

Additional Questions

  • How many products did you have to purchase to meet the credit threshold? From how many companies?
  • Was the scorecard easy to obtain for all products? If not, which were challenging?

Background Information

This credit was originally launched as Pilot Credit 80: Environmentally Preferable Interior Finishes and Furnishings on April 1, 2013 with the intent to test how multi-attribute third party certifications effect the same positive change in manufacturing as the new MR credits in LEED v4. This credit was relaunched in August 2016 with a broader the scope and a continuous maintenance plan to increase the requirements for listing in the credit to further align with LEED. The first place of alignment is LCA. Programs will have to include options for performing an LCA and assessing the six TRACI impact categories identified in LEED. It is strongly encouraged that those LCAs follow the related Product Category Rule, if available, and that the certification scheme adopt the PCR if it has not already. Because LCA has limitations evaluating health and extraction impacts, programs will need to include requirements that align with the related LEED credits before the next annual review of this pilot credit in order to maintain listing. If you manage a third party multi-attribute certification program and would like to be considered for listing, please contact USGBC. After staff review, the Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group will evaluate the program against the credit requirements. To be added, programs must also commitment to continue to align with LEED v4, if they are not already, in future program updates. 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 »

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 products from manufacturers who have validated multiple environmental attributes relevant to the product via independent, consensus-based, third party certifications. The products must have earned and still maintain certification under the scheme. The manufacturer must publicly disclose the credit achievement results of the product on which the certification has been granted. Use at least 25%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed products in the project. Products will be valued as below. Furniture certified to ANSI/BIFMA e3 can contribute as follows:

  • ANSI/BIFMA e3 – 2014 Furniture Sustainability Standard
    • Level 1 certified products contribute 10% of the total product cost
    • Level 2 certified products contribute 20% of the total product cost
    • Level 3 certified products contribute 40% of the total product cost
In addition, the third party certifications that include credits for life cycle assessment conforming to ISO 14044 and have at least a cradle to gate scope can contribute towards the 25% of permanently installed products according to the list of Approved Programs below. The LCA must assess the following impact categories, at a minimum:
  • global warming potential (greenhouse gases), in kg CO2e;
  • depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, in kg CFC-11;
  • acidification of land and water sources, in moles H+ or kg SO2;
  • eutrophication, in kg nitrogen or kg phosphate;
  • formation of tropospheric ozone, in kg NOx, kg O3 eq, or kg ethene; and
  • depletion of nonrenewable energy resources, in MJ.
Approved 3rd party certifications:
  • ANSI/BIFMA e3 – 2014 Furniture Sustainability Standard*
    • Must achieve credits 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 and
    • Level 1 certified products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Level 2 certified products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Level 3 certified products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 140 – 2015 – Sustainability Assessment for Carpet*
    • Must achieve credit 6.3.3.1 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 332 – 2015 Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings*
    • Must achieve credit two points in 5.2.2 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • Green Squared/ANSI A138.1 – 2011 v2 for ceramic tile, Glass Tiles and Tile Installation Materials*
    • Must achieve credit 3.8.1 and
    • Credit 3.1 Level 1 and/or Credit 3.2 Level 1 products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Credit 3.1 Level 2 and/or Credit 3.2 Level 2 products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Credit 3.1 Level 3 and/or Credit 3.2 Level 3 products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • UL 100 first edition (2012) Standard for Sustainability for Gypsum Board and Panels*
    • Must achieve credit 23.1 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 342 – 2014 Sustainability Assessment for Wallcovering Products*
    • Must achieve credit four points in 5.2.2.1 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • NSF/ANSI 347 - 2012a Sustainability Assessment for Single Ply Roofing Membranes
    • Must achieve credit two points in 5.2.2 and
    • Silver products contribute 50% of the total product cost
    • Gold products contribute 75% of the total product cost
    • Platinum products contribute 100% of the total product cost
  • Other USGBC approved multi-attribute certification programs

Submittals

General
Register for the pilot credit Credits 106-115

Credit Specific Documentation

  • Multi-attribute certification scorecard for each product
  • Cost calculation
  • *This standard is in the process of updating requirements for which impact cat-egories are assessed as part of the LCA. Until that process is complete, sub-mit a copy of the manufacturer’s LCA demonstrating all six impact categories were assessed.

Additional Questions

  • How many products did you have to purchase to meet the credit threshold? From how many companies?
  • Was the scorecard easy to obtain for all products? If not, which were challenging?

Background Information

This credit was originally launched as Pilot Credit 80: Environmentally Preferable Interior Finishes and Furnishings on April 1, 2013 with the intent to test how multi-attribute third party certifications effect the same positive change in manufacturing as the new MR credits in LEED v4. This credit was relaunched in August 2016 with a broader the scope and a continuous maintenance plan to increase the requirements for listing in the credit to further align with LEED. The first place of alignment is LCA. Programs will have to include options for performing an LCA and assessing the six TRACI impact categories identified in LEED. It is strongly encouraged that those LCAs follow the related Product Category Rule, if available, and that the certification scheme adopt the PCR if it has not already. Because LCA has limitations evaluating health and extraction impacts, programs will need to include requirements that align with the related LEED credits before the next annual review of this pilot credit in order to maintain listing. If you manage a third party multi-attribute certification program and would like to be considered for listing, please contact USGBC. After staff review, the Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group will evaluate the program against the credit requirements. To be added, programs must also commitment to continue to align with LEED v4, if they are not already, in future program updates.
See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Pilot-Credits MRpc112