I have recently had LEED review for LEM kicked back because the Greenguard Gold or other material certificates were presumed under CDPH v1.2 for Classroom environment vs Office environment. I have never seen this comment before on doens of previous projects were the testing criteria were established for other-than-Office environments. Is this a new requirement for v4 projects substituting v4.1 on this credit? Do manufacturers know of this requirement becuase many of them are posting SCS and Greenguard testing results which only pertaining to other-than-Office environments.
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Dave Hubka
Practice Leader - SustainabilityEUA
LEEDuser Expert
504 thumbs up
May 8, 2024 - 9:52 am
Hi Brian, I have seen this comment before.
More air changes occur during the 'classroom' scenario test which leads to lower content levels at the end of the test when compared to the 'office' scenario test. (learned this after reading CDPH v1.2-2017)
I do not know what manufacturers are, or are not, aware of.
Emily Purcell
Sustainable Design LeadCannonDesign
LEEDuser Expert
339 thumbs up
May 8, 2024 - 9:59 am
Not a new requirement, it's in the v4.1 language under VOC Emissions Evaluation:
"Products used in any setting other than schools and classrooms must be modeled to private office scenario. For schools projects, modeling to office and/or schools scenario is permitted."
V4 says, "The default scenario is the private office scenario. "
It's not something I've ever paid much attention to when compiling certificates (usually I'm approving a submittal because it says "Greenguard Gold" on the product data sheet and only digging up the actual certificate or lab report after it's installed) and I can imagine it's inconsistently enforced on the GBCI side as well if they're just spot-checking big sets of documentation. So yes, a real requirement, but I'm not surprised you never got a comment on it before.
Brian Salazar
President, LEED AP, WELL APEntegra Development & Investment, LLC
56 thumbs up
May 8, 2024 - 10:12 am
Thank you for the responses. I do appreciate them!
I've been doing this for almost 20 years and have never been asked to illustrate the GG-G certificate based on what CDPH testing environment was used. -rant- This program has become ridiculous. -end rant-
Denise Bevilaqua
HIGHLAND ASSOCIATES27 thumbs up
May 8, 2024 - 10:20 am
Brian, Hi. I agree with the advice David and Emily have provided. In my experience, I have seen only a tiny fraction of certifications that were tested to (for example) only the Classroom scenario (which I had to reject for my project condition). The actual certificate (GreenGuard Gold, SCS, etc.) will list the scenario as well as the other reporting requirements necessitated by the LEED low emitting credit. I make it a habit to hightlight this info on the certificate for the benefit of the reviewer and to ensure I don't miss it. In your case, you may want to reach out to the manufacturer and ask if they have another certificate or test which meets your project need - you will be helping them to become more compliant too.
Emily Purcell
Sustainable Design LeadCannonDesign
LEEDuser Expert
339 thumbs up
May 8, 2024 - 10:39 am
I hear you Brian, this credit often feels like the most work for really marginal improvements in quality. I see the v5 draft includes this requirement as well, may be worth a comment on the paperwork burden it creates.