I think, perhaps foolishly, that we may have some products that can meet this requirement, but can only move forward if I can answer two key questions:
1. What is the baseline from which the product is optimizing? Is it the industry EPD? or something else unnamed? Conceivably if it's the industry standard EPD, a product specific Type III EPD might be able to show the improvement desired.
2. What does the narrative requirement encompass? Will the EPD itself serve as the narrative? Or do we need to ask the manufacturer for something entirely different that hasn't been published?
Kath Williams
LEED Fellow 2011, PrincipalKath Williams + Associates
147 thumbs up
June 4, 2020 - 3:52 pm
Have you found answers? We're researching and will share!
Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
844 thumbs up
June 4, 2020 - 4:33 pm
Hi Margaret and Kath! Sorry for being so slow here.
Since they failed to specify what the baseline is for these reductions, I just assumed that they meant that baseline to be the same as in v4. Our guidance on that credit says:
I'll try to check on this with USGBC, but I'm pretty confident that's the intent.
Nadav
Margaret Montgomery
PrincipalNBBJ Architects
42 thumbs up
June 4, 2020 - 4:43 pm
Thanks Nadav and Kath, I think you're probably right about the industry average. Unless I hear otherwise, I'm going with that.
Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
844 thumbs up
June 5, 2020 - 1:56 pm
Ok, I heard back from USGBC on this. I should have paid more attention to the 2nd part of your question, Margaret--the narratives are the sticking point.
It turns out that that the baselines for reduction are as I mentioned, but more specific. Comparison to the industry averages counts at 1.5x, comparison to a previous version of the same product counts at 2x.
The sticky part is that these comparisons have to be provided (published) by the manufacturer AND third-party verified. So you can't just do your own comparison to show the reductions. More from USGBC:
I think that makes this option substantially more challenging, but hopefully getting to 10 products should be doable before too long...?
Mikhail Davis
Director of Global Market SustainabilityInterface
30 thumbs up
June 11, 2020 - 6:44 pm
Thanks for digging into Option 2 Nadav. My related question on the Action Plans, which i think are going to be the near-term way to get this point, is what qualifies as "critically reviewed." We have the full 200% documentation for our carpet tile, but that doesn't help teams get the point if there are not at least 8 other products or 16 Action Plan products with documentation too. I'm trying to get some other manufacturers to at least do the action plan, but whether or not they have to hire an outside LCA consultant to perform this review is important in terms of cost right now. Has anyone seen a definition of "critically reviewed" for EPD Option 2?
Mikhail Davis
Director of Global Market SustainabilityInterface
30 thumbs up
July 20, 2020 - 4:59 pm
Interior Coatings
ConFlex™ Block Filler
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-105
Interior Coatings
Harmony®
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-106
Interior Coatings
Loxon Concrete & Masonry Primer®
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-104
Interior Coatings
Multi-Purpose Latex Primer
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-107
Interior Coatings
PrepRite ProBlock®
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-108
Interior Coatings
PrepRite® Block Filler
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-109
Interior Coatings
Pro Industrial™ Pre-Catalyzed Waterbased Epoxy
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-110
Interior Coatings
ProMar© 200 HP Zero VOC
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-102
Interior Coatings
ProMar© 200 Zero VOC
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-101
Interior Coatings
ProMar© 400 Zero VOC
06/30/2019 - 06/30/2022
EPDAP-103
As I said on another thread, USGBC has confirmed that an Action Plan can be considered "Critically Reviewed" if reviewed by an LCA expert (either internally or externally), so this needn't be expensive to get your 1/2 product/50% spend action plan at larger manufacturers who have their own internal LCA team to perform this Review. Sherwin Williams has a good set of Action plans (Joanna Switzer posted these on another question thread)