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FAQs about MRc1 :

We purchased hundreds of ongoing consumables items during our performance period. Do we have to enter each discrete purchase into the LEED Online credit form?

Our organization has a centralized purchasing program that buys products for several buildings, including the one pursuing LEED-EBOM certification. It’s difficult to track which ongoing consumable goods purchases are used in the EBOM building versus the

Purchasing for our organization takes place in the EBOM project building, but not all ongoing consumable goods that are purchased end up being used there. Should we include all of the purchases in MRc1?

We have multiple tenants in our building, some of which are nonresponsive to requests for purchasing records. Can we exclude their purchases?

Does a signed letter from a product manufacturer that states the sustainability criteria met by a particular product count as acceptable LEED documentation?

Do manufacturer claims about the average recycled content, etc. in all its products count as acceptable LEED documentation? For example, a toner cartridge website says that the average post-consumer recycled content is 90% across all its toner products.

Lots of products we purchase seem like they could be tracked in two different purchasing credits. For example, toilet tissue seem like an ongoing consumable since it’s replaced frequently at a low cost per unit (MRc1), but it’s also used for our green

The credit language says we need to track paper (printing or copy paper, notebooks, notepads, envelopes), toner cartridges, binders, batteries and desk accessories. Is that everything we have to track for this credit?

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Forum discussion

EBOM-2009 MRc1:Sustainable Purchasing—Ongoing Consumables

Printing used for bldg occupants, but outsourced

I have a client that has several departments under a building that is being LEED EB-OM certified. One of the departments has a "significant" budget attributed to generating handouts, flyers, etc. that are used by employees of that department. However, the handouts are not made within the confines of the building, nor are they made with consumables (paper) that are purchased and located within the building. These documents are outsourced to a local printing press company. Does the paper that the printing press uses need to be tracked and verified to adhere to the policy being established for the building? Does this need to be done every time they "sub out" a print job like this?

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Profile picture for user tristanroberts
Tristan Roberts
Representative
Vermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
7780 thumbs up

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 01:44

Ted, I would say that this printing is outside the scope of this credit. It seems to fall more under the business activity of the department, and is not related to the building. If the paper is used within the building, then it would be coverede on the waste side, but I don't see a need to cover it on the purchasing side.

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 16:50

I'm contemplating your response. If there is a separation in business activity, wouldn't all office supplies used by the department then be classified under "business activity"? I'm trying to understand the delineation between this type of consumable and others. In other words, what would then be attributed just to "the building"?
Profile picture for user tristanroberts
Tristan Roberts
Representative
Vermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
7780 thumbs up

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 16:56

Ted, I think I would need more specific examples to be able to offer more thoughts. Also, my thoughts on the flyers are a bit of an educated guess—I'm unclear how the flyers are consumed by the department.As you can gather from reading earlier discussions on this topic, there is some grey area here.
Profile picture for user danackerstein
Dan Ackerstein
Principal
Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
545 thumbs up

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 18:39

Interesting question Ted - I would agree with Tristan. What you are purchasing, in this instance, is a finished printed product, rather than simply the 'ongoing consumable' portion of that product, the paper. One might argue its similar to buying a newspaper or magazine in that sense. But it is certainly a gray area, I agree. One other thought - if you are purchasing a large volume of printed materials, and you could switch to sustainable paper, I wonder if an Innovation Credit might be entertained? Longshot but interesting. . . Dan

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 21:52

Very good question - we are working on an EBOM project for our own building, an AEC firm with lots of printing of project plans, marketing proposals, etc. We use a third-party printing service to manage our equipment and coordinate our large print jobs (full-size drawing sets) and I always took the stance that since we are paying them to do our printing for us (and they are in fact located inside our building), we have the ability to recommend they use sustainable paper - just like we pay our housekeeping staff to use green cleaning products.

Fri, 02/25/2011 - 12:46

Thanks everyone for your input. It has been very helpful in gaining perspective on this one. I plan to work out a stance with my client that will sit well with them. My guess is they will claim the paper volume under purchasing, and we'll get documentation from the printing press on type of paper used during performance period. Obviously, we'll eventually know whether or not it is an acceptable claim with USGBC, right? :-) Thanks again all.

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