Hello, I am curious about that how do LEED determine the regional distance of material is 500 miles? Thank you in advance for the answer.
You rely on LEEDuser. Can we rely on you?
LEEDuser is supported by our premium members, not by advertisers.
Go premium for
Erica Downs
LEED ConsultantThe Green Engineer
254 thumbs up
March 13, 2017 - 9:56 am
Hi Zu-Ning -
For NC Option 1, use a 500-mile radius from the project site, measured "as the crow flies". You can use an online tool like the Geobytes Distance Calculator http://geobytes.com/citydistancetool/ to find the staight-line distance between 2 cities. Both the manufacturing location AND the raw material extraction point must be within that radius.
For Option 2, add the actual distance traveled (road miles -- use google maps, etc.) from the extraction point to the manufacturing point, then the manufacturing point to the project site. Hope that helps.
Zu-Ning Chang
4 thumbs up
March 14, 2017 - 4:05 am
Thank you for answering. But my question is why LEED uses 500 miles as a baseline for regional materials? How do LEED delineate this figure?
Erica Downs
LEED ConsultantThe Green Engineer
254 thumbs up
March 14, 2017 - 9:00 am
Sorry Zu-Ning. I have no idea why they chose 500 miles. My guess is it was somewhat arbitrary, but a reasonable radius from which to actually source products.
Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
844 thumbs up
March 14, 2017 - 11:50 am
Hi--having been there since (almost) the beginning, I can say with some confidence that there was no science behind the 500-mile figure. It was selected based on what seemed achievable for most major cities; while still encouraging a regional approach to the procurement of resources.
One consideration was the energy/carbon impact of transportation. There was along the way a proposal to allow the travel distance to vary based on mode of transport. LEED Canada actually adopted that approach. But it was deemd too complicated by those managing the US/international version.
RETIRED
LEEDuser Expert
623 thumbs up
March 14, 2017 - 12:59 pm
Hi Nadav - Thanks for the history. I wanted to note that the 7/6/2012 correction (http://www.usgbc.org/leedaddenda/100001265) added the new Option 2 for this credit that allows teams to use total travel distance using a weighted average.
Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
844 thumbs up
March 14, 2017 - 1:04 pm
Right! I had forgotten that. Thanks, Michelle.
Zu-Ning Chang
4 thumbs up
March 28, 2017 - 8:45 am
Hello Nadav and Michelle,
Thank you for your answer. Because I am a graduate student researching sustainability, I need some information on LEED. May I quote your answers in my study to explain this credit? Or you can give me some reference describing the meaning of the distance of 500 miles?
Thanks a lot!
RETIRED
LEEDuser Expert
623 thumbs up
March 28, 2017 - 10:36 am
Zu-Ning - You're welcome to quote my answer. I didn't participate in the development of LEED so I'll defer to Nadav about his information. The only thing I could suggest to potentially get a resource for the 500-mile radius would be to contact USGBC and ask to connect with the Materials and Resources Subject Matter Expert. I'd use leedinfo@usgbc.org.