“Site materials (31.60.00 Foundations, 32.10.00 Paving, 32.30.00 Site Improvements, and 32.90.00 Planting) that are permanently installed can be included in the MR credits. Just be sure that your material budget assumptions and material costs are consistent across MRc3, MRc4, MRc5, MRc6, and MRc7.”
I have just received a submittal from my landscaping contractor for $200,000 worth of various types of plants and trees (section 32.90.00) claiming 0% pre and post-consumer recycled content. If I am to follow blindly and include this in my calculation for the MRc4 credit this only raises my material budget and hurts my percentage of total recycled content. I have a hard time believing that planting trees should hurt me in any way. In the other direction, if I am able to assume to have 100% for both pre and post-consumer I have a hard time believing that I can claim a $300,000 recycled content value for a $200,000 purchase.
How should I address this?
RETIRED
LEEDuser Expert
623 thumbs up
January 26, 2016 - 11:47 am
Thomas - The MR credits' percentages are calculated via fractions. Using the Total Construction Cost method, the total cost of the LEED-required divisions and sections times 45% is the denominator (bottom) of these fractions. (For Actual Total Materials Cost, the denominator is the sum of the cost of all materials within the LEED-required divisions and sections.) Using either method, the denominator must be consistent between MRc3-MRc6. (MRc7 is a special case.) The reference you list is related to the denominator of these fractions - the total cost used (whether 45% of construction costs or actual material costs) must be consistent in MRc3-MRc6.
The numerator (top) is the cost of the specific materials that contribute to that credit. For instance, the numerator for MRc4 is the cost of the recycled content materials contributing to that credit. Hence, having no value for recycled content for the planting material does NOT hurt you as $0 is included in the numerator for MRc4. Hope this is clear.
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
January 26, 2016 - 7:04 pm
Thomas—Not every product contributes toward every LEED credit. For example, your purchase of trees may not benefit credit MRc4 at all, but if the nurseries that grew the trees are local, the trees could count toward MRc5 Regional Materials. The trees may also help achieve some of the Sustainable Sites credits, but if they require irrigation, they could hurt your Water Efficiency credits. LEED is all about trade-offs.
Many projects spend far more money on structure and envelope materials, such as steel, aluminum, and concrete, than they do on plantings. Such products often contribute significantly to MRc4, offsetting less costly materials that contribute little or nothing.
Therefore, include the cost of the plants when calculating the project’s “Total Material Cost” that is the denominator for the MR credits. If your project uses the “Actual Material Cost” method, make sure not to include the cost of installing the plants in the total.
Finally, you cannot claim $300,000 recycled content for a $200,000 purchase because no product can claim BOTH 100% post-consumer AND 100% pre-consumer recycled content. The sum of post- & pre-consumer cannot exceed 100%. Since pre-consumer content only counts half under MRc4, a product that has 50% post- and 50% pre-consumer content would only contribute 75% of its value toward MRc4, and a product that was 90%-10% would only contribute 95%.