A single product or material can contribute to multiple credits. For example, cabinetry made both locally and with certified wood contributes to MRc5 as well as MRc7. Focusing on products and materials with multiple environmental attributes can also limit the overall number of items that must be tracked. 

For some CI projects, like high-end offices, furniture costs can be equal to or greater than costs for building materials. Make sure to choose furniture that helps the project gain multiple MR points (for example, furniture that is locally harvested and made of certified wood). 

Focus on “big ticket” wood items first. Materials like flooring, custom millwork, and framing, if they meet the certified wood requirement, may represent enough value to earn the credit. This approach allows you to Iimit the number of certified wood items you need to track and document, reducing contractor headaches and keeping overall costs low. If big-ticket items are not enough, target medium-priced items next, until you reach your goal.

Use your estimated budget as a guide throughout the project. Many projects fail to earn this credit because they wait until all the materials have been purchased before calculating whether they have purchased enough FSC-certified wood to gain the LEED credit. 

Using the estimated budget to integrate certified wood into the design and specs early in the process can help prevent costly change orders during construction.

Include a cushion for this credit in case of changes in design and purchasing. For example, if you are counting on one point for using 50% certified wood, plan on using 60% of your wood budget for certified wood in order to avoid coming up short.

To determine how much FSC wood you will need to incorporate into your project, look at the baseline wood budget. Determine how much you want to spend on certified wood. 50% of the wood budget cost will give the project one point and 95% will give the project one ID point for exemplary performance. Go through the project’s preliminary budget, identify what wood items could be purchased FSC-certified, and check to see whether these items add up to the amount needed to get the desired LEED points.

The baseline wood budget should be consistent across all wood products mentioned in MRc3–7. The LEED Online credit form helps ensure consistency.

It is optional to add temporary wood structures such as sidewalk partitions, bracing, or concrete forms to the baseline wood budget. If added, however, the temporary wood structures can only count toward one project’s certification (that is, if reused on another LEED project, they cannot count toward MRc7 there). Also, if temporary wood structures are calculated towards the credit compliance, all temporary wood structures need to be counted in the baseline (essentially, you can’t just calculate FSC certified wood structures and not non-FSC certified wood structures).

Adding furniture to your baseline wood budget for MRc7 is optional, but must be done consistently across MRc3, MRc4, MRc5, MRc6, and MRc7. Analyze the baseline materials budget to see if adding division 12 furniture works to the project’s advantage. Generally, if the furniture helps contribute to the above MR credits it is in a project’s interest to take credit for it.