I've got a manufacturer telling me they are LEEDv4 compliant with this credit because their product is in the GreenCircle database and GreenCircle is a USGBC-Approved 3rd party certification approach. However, I have not seen anywhere that GreenCircle is USGBC approved for compliance with this credit. Does anybody know? The documentation they provide with their GreenCircle approval does not meet the LEED credit requirements as shown since they don't identify actual percentages of ingredients (and it's therefore impossible to know if they are disclosing everything), even when they list those ingredients by function, not by name, to protect their proprietary info. The GreenScreen benchmark is also not included for any of those proprietary ingredients. You can see the type of documentation that the GreenCircle database provides at this link, but I'm hoping somebody has already gotten feedback from GBCI on this. Thanks!
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Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
844 thumbs up
January 3, 2018 - 12:40 pm
Hi Kristen,
I suspect that you're referring to one of the BASF products, like this one: http://greencirclecertified.com/database/uploads/pdf/MBS+Ucrete+UD200+Sy...
It seems that BASF/Green Circle have technically met the requirements in the credit language for "Manufacturers Inventory", if GBCI allows for the ranges in terms of product contents, rather than a fixed number. The credit language doesn't actually say that they have to provide a percentage for the substances they've identified by name and CAS number, although it kind of implies that they do.
Did you ask the manufacturer if their products have been successfully submitted for a LEED project? Does anyone else here have experience with these yet?
Tad Radzinski
Sustainable Solutions CorporationJanuary 4, 2018 - 8:05 am
The GreenCircle LEED v4 compliant mark was developed in consultation with the USGBC Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group. GreenCircle is an approved verifier for various forms of material ingredient reporting options including Declare and Health Product Declarations (HPDs). GreenCircle was also instrumental in developing the “How to Use GreenScreen® for LEED v4” document published by Clean Production Action which outlines how a manufacturer inventory should be completed in order to be in compliance with the LEED v4 Building product disclosure and optimization – material ingredients – Option 1 material ingredient reporting credit option.
All manufacturer inventories that GreenCircle has verified to be in compliance with the credit referenced above do meet the credit requirements. Per the credit requirements, ingredient amounts are only required to be disclosed if the ingredient remains proprietary. For all GreenCircle verified LEED v4 complaint manufacture inventories, all ingredients with the product in question have either been disclosed or the amount, role, and hazards associated with the ingredient have been disclosed down to the 1,000-ppm level. Materials defined as trade secrets or intellectual property (i.e. proprietary ingredients) do require a hazard screening using either GreenScreen v1.2 methodology or the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals rev.6(2015) (GHS), among other options. If the GHS methodology is used, a GreenScreen score is not required.
Please feel free to contact Natalie Walker with GreenCircle Certified at (610) 569-1047 ext 112 or Natalie@greencirclecertified.com with any questions you might have.