Forum discussion
Hi, one kitchen supplier showed me their CoC certificate that says the status of material is FSC Mix and they also confirmed their cabinet products have 25% recycled content. Im quite confused how to count the cost here for this credit. So we count 100% cost value for this credit or just count 75% for this credit and count another 25% for MR credit 4 - recycled content.
I highly appreciate your advice and any response.
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What building components are typically purchased with FSC content to earn this credit?
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Is there a minimum quantity of wood that must be used on the project to qualify for this credit?
Susan Walter
HDRLEEDuser Expert
1296 thumbs up
October 28, 2015 - 6:12 pm
You take out the recycled content and then you look at the remaining 75% to see how much of that is FSC. If half of the remaining product is FSC, then you report 37.5%. Yes, take credit for the recycled credit in MRc4.
Michelle Rosenberger
PartnerArchEcology
523 thumbs up
October 28, 2015 - 6:37 pm
Hi Susan,
I am surprised by this response. I had always understood that MR7 and MR4 were mutually exclusive. When you have an FSC Mix (no %) it was my understanding you can claim 100% FSC but then no MR4 at all, OR you could claim the recycled content but not FSC. I have been dinged by reviewers for double dipping in this kind of situation.
Susan Walter
HDRLEEDuser Expert
1296 thumbs up
October 28, 2015 - 6:42 pm
I think I'm consistent with that. My understanding is that FSC is not recycled content so you take that out. If you had a product that was 33% FSC wood, 33% non FSC wood and 34% recycled content and it cost $100 dollars, then $33 into FSC, $33 into the non FSC column and then you report the $34 in recycled content. There is no double dipping of costs. My understanding is that you can choose on a product that has FSC content coming from a recycled source but once you choose, you stay consistent. The way I read the original post was that he could make the choice but still had non-recycled FSC content.
Lori Knosalla
Policy and Standards Manager - Chain of CustodyForest Stewardship Council US
LEEDuser Expert
17 thumbs up
October 29, 2015 - 4:27 pm
In the spring of 2014, LEED provided an interpretation (LI# 10372) on this issue, see the following link: http://www.usgbc.org/node/1731359?view=interpretations.
FSC Mix products are identified as either FSC Mix Credit or FSC Mix XX%, and FSC Mix products may contain pre- and/or post-consumer recycled materials. This LEED Interpretation provides the clarity and an actual change in policy that now makes double-dipping for MRc4 and MRc7 not allowed. So a LEED project team does need to decide whether an FSC Mix product containing recycled materials will contribute to MRc7 or to MRc4.
You should also check to see what the full FSC claim is from your supplier as the full FSC Mix claim should either look like FSC Mix XX% or FSC Mix Credit. FSC Mix Credit products are valued at 100 percent of the cost. Wood products identified as FSC Mix XX% are valued at the indicated percentage of their cost, so a product identified as FSC Mix 75% is valued at 75 percent of the total cost.