Include in your materials baseline budget, the material cost (excluding labor) of all items that apply under CSI MasterFormat 2004:

Divisions 3–10 
Section 31.60: Foundations
Section 32.10: Paving 
Section 32.30: Site Improvements
Section 32.90: Planting
Division 12: Furnishings is optional
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and equipment costs are excluded.

Your budget assumptions should be consistent across MRc3–6. The LEED Online credit form enforces this.

This credit can often be achieved at no added cost, as there are many products with recycled content that building projects already use. 

The decision to use recycled content material can help guide design decisions, such as using recycled-content steel framing instead of wood framing. However, only letting recycled content drive basic design decisions may be shortsighted and lead to tradeoffs with other credits, not to mention other environmental impact areas. Look for materials that contribute to multiple LEED credits.

Big-ticket products that often have recycled content include: steel, drywall, insulation, ceiling tiles, concrete, VCT, commercial carpet, and composite substrates. There are more and more products in nearly every category that use recycled content as a way to help LEED projects earn this credit.  

Look at opportunities to use recycled content materials for the project’s potential “big ticket” items.

Note that due to a special USGBC ruling from 2008 that is still in effect for LEED for Schools 2009, you can avoid the tougher Schools requirements for this credit, and use the NC requirement to specify urea formaldehyde free composite products and laminating adhesives. (See Resources.)

If noncompliant materials are used onsite accidentally, or due to a warranty or other issue, you can use the VOC budget method. This method compares the total amount of VOCs (in grams per liter) used in the design case to the total amount of VOCs that would have been used if every product exactly met LEED VOC allowances. The calculation must be determined for adhesives and sealants separately from paints and coatings. For example, it won’t necessarily help your case to use low-VOC paints but also some high-VOC sealants. (See the compliance example below for paints and coatings.)

Develop a purchasing policy that incorporates guidelines on using urea-formaldehyde-free and other low-emitting materials. 

Keep a list of credit-compliant materials used on the project so that O&M staff can purchase these products for future renovations.