The cost of this credit is product-specific.

OPTION 1: MATERIAL INGREDIENT REPORTING 
OPTION 2: MATERIAL INGREDIENT OPTIMIZATION

These options reward projects specifying products for which there are disclosure reports such as Health Product Declarations (HPDs), or that have gone through an optimization process to reduce chemical hazards, such as GreenScreen or Cradle to Cradle. There is nothing inherent to the disclosure requirement that would create a cost premium for these products. The optimization process often requires a significant investment on the manufacturer’s part, which has to be paid for somehow—and a manufacturer might be more likely to make that investment for a premium product.

A growing number of products are available that comply with the disclosure option, although for projects pursuing this credit option, particularly for early adopters of LEED v4 who have not benefited from wider dissemination of LEED-compliant sustainability reports from major companies, there may be cost implications associated with reduced product selection. See MRc2 for more discussion of this issue.

There are very few products available that meet the requirements for Option 2, except for projects that can use the international compliance path, which is more accessible.

OPTION 3: PRODUCT MANUFACTURER SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION

This credit option has not been fully developed by USGBC, and there is no way to comply with it yet. Therefore, cost implications are not available. 

Cost Synergies

For products pursuing this and other credits involving detailed product information, there are cost synergies with that documentation effort.

MRc2: Building Product Disclosure & Optimization—Environmental Product Declarations
MRc3: Building Product Disclosure & Optimization—Sourcing of Raw Materials
EQc2: Low-Emitting Materials