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ON-DEMAND WEBCAST

Materials Transparency & LEED Video, 50 minutes

LEED v4 has introduced a whole new set of frameworks and criteria for choosing materials that are better for human health and for the planet. These changes are important. From climate change to habitat loss to hazardous substances, we have some major challenges on our hands and the products we build with are a big part of the problem!

In this 50-minute webcast, BuildingGreen President Nadav Malin will show you which Materials & Resources (MR) credits in LEED v4 your project can easily achieve, and what you need to know to get them.

The Materials & Resources (MR) credits in LEED v4 move us away from single-attribute product selection, and toward having a richer set of data to make more robust product selections using multiple attributes. 

Beyond the basics of the credit language

But are the MR credits workable? LEED v4's Building Product Disclosure & Optimization (BPDO) credits promote both transparency and better choices, with three credits, worth up to six points, spread across seven different options. Some of those points are easy to earn—you just have to know what to look for. Others are such a stretch that projects are finding (sometimes after significant investment of time) that it's just not worth chasing them. This webcast will help you distinguish which ones are most achievable.

This Intermediate-level webcast takes you beyond the basics in the credit language. It will help you answer these questions:

  • How to know whether the HPD or Declare label for that carpet you’ve chosen actually meets the LEED requirements?
  • Which life-cycle assessment documents are worth a full point, and which just a quarter point?
  • What's the one situation where it might make sense to go for Option 1 under Sourcing of Raw Materials?
  • What's the exception that can help non-certified biobased materials contribute to credit achievement?
  • What are the 4 must-haves for a LEED-compliant Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)?

Presenter Nadav Malin is a LEED Fellow and founding chair of the Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group (MR-TAG) for LEED. He’s been deep in the weeds with these details, and dug his way back in time to show you the easy way through. 

Which BPDO options are achievable?

Nadav has carefully analyzed all seven options of the BDPO credits and will discuss:

  • Which options are remarkably easy, despite their scary recommendations
  • Which options truly are "a bar too high" for now—don't bother
  • Which options actually align with your values and strategic objectives?

This information-packed presentation will get you on the right track for LEED points, and for making the world a better place.

Presenters

Nadav Malin is the building industry’s acknowledged go-to resource when you need thoughtful perspective on the materials and design solutions that define sustainable building practice. A long-serving former member of the national LEED Faculty, he is an experienced trainer and facilitator, convening the network of architecture firm Sustainable Design Leaders and teaching diverse groups about LEED and green building. He is a sought-after workshop facilitator and consultant to USGBC, AIA, large corporations, government agencies, and architecture firms. 

As president and CEO of BuildingGreen, he oversees the company’s industry-leading information and community-building websites BuildingGreen.com and LEEDuser. He also served as executive editor of GreenSource magazine throughout its highly decorated seven-year run.

When the LEED rating system was just starting out, Nadav was tapped to lead its new Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group, which he chaired throughout LEED’s formative years. Nadav also led the team that created the U.S. Department of Energy’s High Performance Buildings Database, and continues to oversee BuildingGreen’s responsibility for ensuring the quality of case studies and collecting meaningful data on actual building performance. When he is not facilitating a rich conversation among design professionals, he can often be found chasing a hockey puck or a soccer ball, depending on the season.