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.
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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
PresidentBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
839 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
PresidentBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
839 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.