One of the most impactful changes to this credit from LEEDv3 is: "Structure and enclosure materials may not constitute more than 30% of the value of compliant building products." In my experience so far, this requirement plus the change to the regional attribute (100 miles and only as a multiplier of another attribute) make 25% very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve on most projects.
I am curious, has anyone achieved this credit? And if so, any tips?
Charalampos Giannikopoulos
Senior Sustainability ConsultantDCarbon
84 thumbs up
June 30, 2016 - 4:23 pm
In fact Allison, this is a very good point. We had a similar situation with a special v4 project whose 65% of its budget was spent for structure and enclosure materials simply making the threshold of 25% unattainable by definition. In my opinion this is something that the USGBC needs to reconsider.
Paula Melton
Editorial DirectorBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
180 thumbs up
July 1, 2016 - 9:36 am
Yes, very good point! USGBC told me at one point that all of the BPDO credits had been earned (mostly on v2009 projects or v4 pilot projects), so presumably a project has done this. I know it wasn't under Option 1 because that is not currently achievable. Maybe it was a CI project, though? I wonder if you can hit the 25% if you include furniture and furnishings in the scope.
Allison Zuchman
Senior Sustainability ConsultantThe Green Engineer
14 thumbs up
July 1, 2016 - 9:52 am
Perhaps a CI project? (A CS project would have no chance at all.) Furniture and furnishings may help a little but that is often a separate part of the project scope/budget handled by others. In general, I do not think adding furniture would make the impact we are looking for to meet the credit requirements, though I suppose that could depend on project type (i.e low-rise school vs high-rise office).