Hello everybody. I wrote back on November 13, 2013 on this thread as a reply to Helen Kessler's post. I just wanted to follow up since people are asking if anybody has gone under review with this credit. I did, and it was successful. I don't have TOO much more info to add from my original post, where I explained how I weighted everything to reach the 50% threshold. I only counted Div 12 items, and luckily we had already specified Allsteel's Stride workstation system, which is Level 3, and Gunlocke's Silea casegoods, which are Level 2, and that REALLY helped us. Everything on my end was pretty straightforward, because we didn't have to start looking for other 3rd party social sustainability certifications to reach 50%. I made a handy spreadsheet calculator, since the pilot credit didn't have one already made, and I would highly recommend doing that to get your ducks in a row. Also working with furniture reps who are already familiar with level certification was a big help. In fact, it was our Allsteel rep who even brought this credit to my attention in the first place. I guess all this is to say, this credit IS possible, but I don't have much more info for those looking into alternative ways to meet the intent. I would say go for it, and include a narrative explaining how your efforts meet the intent in a different way - that's what pilot credits are for in theory. I would not assume that any other type of certification would weight your material cost at anything greater than 100% though. Good luck! Anyone else who has success, let us know!
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Joanna Switzer
Sustainability Project ManagerAtkins
59 thumbs up
September 22, 2014 - 2:47 pm
Abigail,
Sincere thanks for this feedback. We'll proceed accordingly and see how it goes. We'll hopefully have feedback we can post here within another 1-3 months.
Karen Schlesinger
3 thumbs up
October 13, 2014 - 12:21 pm
Thank you Abigail. I have had similar experience with my furniture rep being very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to the BIFMA ratings. She was able to supply all the product cut sheets with the BIFMA levels clearly called out and the associated costs of each product. I also created my own spreadsheet, and currently we're tracking at 51% for furnishings (I am excluding Div 9). We plan on submitting soon. I will follow up in a few months to let everyone know if we have success with this credit.
LEED Pro Consultant
Bioconstruccion & Energia Alternativa78 thumbs up
January 21, 2016 - 4:26 pm
Abigail,
Thank you for your feedback. I'm also preparing to submit this credit for a corporate office project and as you say, working with furniture manufacurer's with level certification was a determining factor, we achieved 65% of compliance product's value and we are also excluding Div 9.
I will follow-up in a fer weeks to let you all know if our team have success achieving this pilot credit.
Have a great day!