What exactly are the credit requirements?
I read through the reference Pilot Credit 43 and also what I could find ON CEN (EN) standard 15804. And am still not sure.
Is CEN (EN) standard 15804 available in the US? My project is located in upstate NY.
Would the Kalzip and Gyproc EPD's noted in the Pilot Credit-43 link be good examples to forward to vendors and manufacturers as a sample of what is expected in terms of credit documentation on their part?
Can some please just spell it out in black and white? I'm doing my best to work with vendors and manufacturers to help them understand the requirements and facilitate the credit submittal / documentation process, but I feel GBCI falls short in this regard. We are all excited to meet the challenge of this credit, but simplify the verbiage and get to the point.
Also examples of acceptable documentation would greatly facilitate the credit documentation for all parties. I am finding that many vendors and manufacturers receive different requirements from project to project. We all would like to streamline the process and get it right the first time around.
In addition, I also find that even if vendors' or manufacturer's products don't meet credit requirements, they are more than willing to step up to the challenge to make the necessary changes to meet credit requirements in the near future or for the next project.....IF they have the correct information and a concise path of options to follow in order to achieve credit compliance.
I feel there is a huge disconnect between the building trades, manufacturers and vendors in terms of what is acceptable LEED credit documentation and how it should be composed. It would greatly facilitate credit documentation if GBCI include sample documentation with each credit. This may be a mundane request, but I sure the folks at GBCI see all sorts of documentation....often more than what is needed...and spend a lot of time filtering through all the documentation to determine if credit requirements have been met.
Anyhow, I apologize for the deviation of topic. Just want to do the job right the first time and streamline the review process for all parties...GBCI included.
Again if anyone can help, I would greatly appreciate it?
Catherine Blakemore
Architect, LEED AP BC+DHOLT Architects
32 thumbs up
June 11, 2013 - 8:43 pm
Ok so in an effort to answer my own questions, I found the following:
Intent: This is a pilot credit. To use any pilot credit on your LEED project, be sure to register here. Documentation requirements and additional questions are listed below.
To encourage the use of products and materials for which life-cycle information is available and that have environmentally, economically, and socially preferable life-cycle impacts. To reward project teams for selecting products from manufacturers who have verified improved environmental life-cycle impacts.
Requirements:
* This credit language is drawn from the LEED v4 draft. Where other point totals are noted, this pilot credit is worth 1 point in total. *
Option 2. Multi-attribute optimization (1 point)
Use products that meet at least one of the attributes below for 50%, by cost, of the total value of permanently install products in the project. Products will be valued as below. USGBC approved program Products that comply with multi-attribute frameworks approved by USGBC Certifications that verify impact reduction below industry average in at least three of the following:
1) global warming potential (greenhouse gases), in CO2e;
2) depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, in kg CFC-11;
3) acidification of land and water sources, in moles H+ or kg SO2;
4) eutrophication, in kg nitrogen or kg phosphate;
5) formation of tropospheric ozone, in kg NOx or kg ethene; and
6) depletion of nonrenewable energy resources, in MJ.
Programs meeting the multi-attribute optimization criteria that become
available will be evaluated and added as appropriate.
Products that meet the above criteria are valued according to source location
(extraction, manufacture, and purchase point must be within the distances noted below):
Products sourced within 100 miles (160 km) of the project site are
valued at 200% of their cost.
Final product value is determined by the following equation:
(base product value x valuation factor based on attribute criteria)*(valuation
factor based on location)
Structure and enclosure materials may not constitute more than 30% of the value of compliant building products. An individual product may be counted in more than one attribute category. If only a fraction of a product or material meets the requirements, then only the fraction, based on weight, contributes toward the credit.
For the scope of this credit, furniture, piping, pipe insulation, ducts, duct
insulation, conduit, plumbing fixtures, faucets, showerheads, and lamp housing may be included if they are included consistently in cost-based Materials and Resources credits. Exclude wood products purchased for temporary use on the project.
Catherine Blakemore
Architect, LEED AP BC+DHOLT Architects
32 thumbs up
June 11, 2013 - 8:44 pm
What are the industry standard for the following:
1) global warming potential (greenhouse gases), in CO2e;
2) depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, in kg CFC-11;
3) acidification of land and water sources, in moles H+ or kg SO2;
4) eutrophication, in kg nitrogen or kg phosphate;
5) formation of tropospheric ozone, in kg NOx or kg ethene; and
6) depletion of nonrenewable energy resources, in MJ
Catherine Blakemore
Architect, LEED AP BC+DHOLT Architects
32 thumbs up
June 11, 2013 - 8:46 pm
Would the Kalzip EPD in the link below be a good example of sufficient documentation for this credit?
http://www.kalzip.com/PDF/eur/Kalzip_EPDsECO.pdf
Catherine Blakemore
Architect, LEED AP BC+DHOLT Architects
32 thumbs up
June 11, 2013 - 8:49 pm
Would 3rd party certificates from GREENGUARD, GreenSpec or SCS for example, also be needed to validate manufacturer claims for the "green-ness" of their products...like say for example the recycled content of a material?
Jessica McNaughton
CaraGreen33 thumbs up
July 25, 2013 - 9:07 pm
Catherine,
Did you get a response to any of these?
Jessica
Catherine Blakemore
Architect, LEED AP BC+DHOLT Architects
32 thumbs up
July 26, 2013 - 3:04 pm
No. I contacted GBCI and asked for a form to track submittal information and costs for this credit. They gave me the MR calculator for LEED v4. So that's what I am using as a form. I will submit that along with any 3-rd party certificates and EPD's and hope for the best!
-Cate
Melissa Vernon
Director of Client EngagementNatural Capital Partners
50 thumbs up
July 31, 2013 - 2:42 pm
Catherine,
These requirements are drawn from Option 2 of the new MR c2 Building product disclosure and optimization - environmental product declarations in LEED v4.
Option 1 asks manufacturers to have an EPD (product specific, or industry average) or an LCA.
Option 2 then intends to assess performance of the specific product to ensure that the environmental impacts are lower than industry average.
Sounds fairly straightforward. However, how do we calculate an industry average? Do we do simple math and add up the impacts from all EPDs published for a category (i.e. Flooring) and divide by the number of EPDs? Do we create a sales weighted average to account for EPDs for niche products? EPDs for environmentally unfriendly products are probably not being published, so how do we ensure we are getting close to a true average?
Interface is exploring a few ways to demonstrate how our carpets are below industry average and comply with Option 2 but we don't have anything verified yet.
There is no current methodology for creating an 'industry average' and until enough manufacturers within a specific industry publish EPDs, it will be challenging to contribute to Option 2.
To complicate the determination of product performance vs. industry average, there also must be an external verification. We are exploring how to add this into existing verification programs, such as NSF 140 (Sustainability Assessment for Carpet), as opposed to hiring an auditor for this single verification requirement.
The 3rd party verifiers you list may be able to verify performance vs industry average, but you will definitely need to make sure the USGBC credit requirements are actually covered. This is new and so existing 3rd party certifications likely do not already include this environmental impact comparison.
EN15804 is the new Product Category Rule standard for building products, and is being developed in Europe. Currently, there are different PCRs for each product category (e.g. Flooring), and therefore for an entire building there will be numerous different PCRs. EN15804 attempts to streamline the process and have a single set of rules that all building products will follow. Interface's European EPDs all follow EN15804 and our US ones will follow shortly.