Yes, for the cost-based calculations (Option 2 in each BPDO credit), if you include a product in any one of the BPDO credits you have to include it in all three.
Not necessarily. If the product you included in Option 1 is specified in one of the optional divisions (mechanical, electrical, specialties), you can choose whether or not to include it in Option 2. Everything in the architectural and finishes divisions has to be included in Option 2, however.
There are industry-average EPDs and product-specific EPDs. The product-specific ones are for products produced by one manufacturer. The industry-average EPDs are for products produced by multiple manufacturers who all make the same product; it is an average of all their environmental impacts. They join together to provide data and support the creation of the industry-wide EPD. The type of EPD should be clearly stated on the document. Often an industry-wide EPD is released by a trade association, while a product-specific one is released by a single manufacturer.
Yes, you can include multiple products from a manufacturer, as long as they differ in performance or function, and not just appearance. Semigloss paint and flat paint are two different products, for example, but flat white paint and flat blue paint are not. They can’t ALL be from one manufacturer, however: you have to include products from at least five different manufacturers.
The product would have to be made entirely (100%) out of post-consumer recycled content for its entire value to count toward the 25% threshold for earning the point. The credit language is confusing on this point. Anything less that 100% post-consumer recycled content, including a combination of post-consumer and pre-consumer content (which is discounted by half), provides a “recycled content value” for the product. That pro-rated recycled content value is valued at 100% in the calculation (as opposed to being further discounted, like the extended producer responsibility products).
Yes, thanks to a change made in 2017 you have the option of setting your own threshold for what fraction of the materials have to be structure or enclosure items, based on the bill of materials for your project. If more than 30% of the materials cost for your project is for structure and enclosure, then you can use your actual, higher percentage instead.
No, “manufacturer-declared conformance” to SAN is allowed for agricultural products, but it has to meet specific conditions that are spelled out in the Reference Guide (and outlined in LEEDuser’s Bird’s Eye View).
No, product take-back programs can be run by trade associations and/or government agencies as well, as long as they provide documentation that they are actually recycling most of the material that they collect.
Yes, if USGBC has approved a reporting or certification program and the materials meet the requirements of that program, then they can contribute. One such approved program is ANSI/NSF 373 Sustainable Production of Natural Dimension Stone, with independent third-party verification.
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a well-documented human health hazard. The only way to eliminate the threat of ETS is to completely prohibit smoking indoors, which is why LEED gives no way around the requirement to ban indoor smoking. “Smoking” is now defined to include cannabis and e-cigarettes.