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An easy and effective strategy
To earn this credit, 30% of your cleaning products and materials purchases must meet the credit criteria. You can earn exemplary performanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements. for this credit if 60% of your purchases meet the credit...
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Got the gist of the LEED credit but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Members get:
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28 Comments
California Code of Regulations Maximum Allowable VOC Levels
Here is a direct link to the document entitled Table of Standards Percent Volatile Organic Compounds by Weight: http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/title17_94509.pdf
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Jan 04 2010
Thanks Drew! Good find. I updated our link on the Resources tab above to go directly there.
multi tenant buildings
In multitenant buildings in which the building operator is promoting the LEED certification, the tenant spaces and purchases must be considered?
The question can be applyed the same way to IEQ credits 3.1 to 3.6.
Is it possible to limit the scope of this credit compliance to the areas directly controlled by the owner/operator?
Corinna Kester replied Consultant, Sustainable Buildings and Operations, KEMA Mar 25 2010
Hi Jana -
For multitenant buildings, up to 10% of the floor area may be exempted from almost any credit, if the area is not under management control. You can read more about this on page xxiii of the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Operations and Maintenance. In your case, if you do not control the cleaning in more than 10% of your building, you will have to work closely with your tenants in order to achieve the relevant green cleaning credits.
For IEQp3, on the other hand, the scope of the green cleaning policy can be limited to the areas directly controlled by building management. This applies to the IEQp3 policy only, and not to the IEQc3 credits.
Homemade Cleaning Products
Can anyone offer any guidance on how to assess whether or not homemade cleaning products can comply?
For instance, in a building where all cleaning products are chemical-free and made from everday materials such as olive oil, baking soda and vinegar, is there an appropriate compliance path? Or would we be better off actually purchasing approved cleaning products?
Shira Norman replied YRG sustainability Apr 21 2010
Brittany,
Homemade cleaning chemicals definitely comply with the sustainability criteria. These household products are obviously much more sustainable than manufactured cleaing products. In order to demonstrate compliance, make sure you submit supporting documentation from legitimate sources that explains the environmental benefits of using vinegar, baking soda, lemon, etc.
Trash Can Liners
We want to pursue this credit for every green cleaner and paper good except for the trash bag liners. Does the credit require that 30% of all trash bags we purchase meet the sustainability criteria, or does it require that 30% of the total combined cleaning materials and products, paper products and trash bags meet the criteria? In other words, are we OK foregoing the sustainable trash bag liners given that all of our other cleaners and janitorial paper products meet the criteria?
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Apr 20 2010
Diane, it's 30% of all purchases as a group, not 30% of all purchases within each category.
Cleaning products for European projects
Does anyone have experience on how to handle projects in Europe in regards to cleaning products? I'm asking because Green Seal or Environmental Choice labeled products are very hard to find and in some instances impossible. We would therefore like to use the European Eco-Label or Blue Angel (German green label). We think to require an European cleaning company to use products from North-America isn't sustainable at all and defeats its purpose.
Shira Norman replied YRG sustainability Apr 29 2010
Susan,
We don't have tons of experience with projects attempting this credit using European green cleaning products. However, we do know of several projects in the pipeline that will be testing the validity of using sustainable, certified European products.
I'd recommend submitting with the European products, providing tons of supporting documentation verifying the sustainable characteristics of the products and demonstrating the rigorous testing required for products to earn the European eco labels. Also, submit any documentation available illustrating how these labeling systems are comparable to or more rigorous than the accepted American standards.
Please let us know how this alternative compliance path is received in the review process!
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Apr 29 2010
I would also add that one way to show that you are meeting the credit with European certifications is to draw on the resources of the Global Ecolabeling Network (GEN). Environmental Choice is a member, as are several European labels, and I believe that they all play by the same ISO rules.
Susann Geithner replied LEED Project Manager, HSB Architects & Engineers Apr 29 2010
Thanks a lot for your help. I did look into it a little and yes all these European labels comply with ISO Standards. The problem is that looking at the specifications for instance for Green Seal and European Eco-Label the testing procedures are different for the same chemicals or level of impact. So we would need an analytical chemist to figure out the comparability of these labels. Besides that the European union and countries have already established many laws and regulations with environmental minimum standards for these products. So just because the European Green Labels are not testing for something does not necessarily mean the products do not comply, because it might be required by law anyhow. If anyone came across a comparison of US and European Green Label, please let me know. I would very much appreciate any hints or links.
Shira Norman replied YRG sustainability Apr 29 2010
Susann, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a comparison. I'm sorry this is so frustrating.
Jean Marais replied b.i.g. Bechtold INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT MBH Apr 30 2010
Generally, I scrap these credits for my projects (outside the USA) because of the difficalties (which defeats the goals of the program). What I have found is for Germany:
Schauen Sie http://www.finett.de/
Green Label Plus – Bodenbeläge
http://www.fsc-deutschland.de/db/
Zertifizierte-Holz
Beanträgung der Prüfung von eingesetzte harten Fußbödenbeläge Testing to various labeling certification standards for example Floorscore:
http://www.eurofins.de/unser-angebot/produktprufungen.aspx
Shira's first suggestion is the best way to proceed currently, until the application practicalities for international projects gets ironed out. Frau Geithner's comments are spot on and apply to a broad spectrum of required ratings in LEED and ASHRAE.
I think the system will have to slowly build up an official rating comparison data base...maybe starting with rough equivalence, for certification purposes, such as those for Filters (e.g. MERVMinimum efficiency reporting value. 13 = F7) and have it slowly sharpen up on accuracy as the experts contribute more and more.
Forcing international projects to buy American products OR discouraging projects to imploy certain credit stradigies defeats sustainability goals.
Susann Geithner replied LEED Project Manager, HSB Architects & Engineers Apr 30 2010
Thanks for your help. I very much agree with you and I'm hoping the USGBC is reading your suggestion. I work on a couple of European projects and I always come across Credits, where we comply with the intent, but can't proof it, because the products don't have that particular label or we would have to hire a specialist to write a 100 pages explanation to compare the testing or even maximum allowable levels. So credits in regards to low VOC products, which are easy in the US, are very very hard or impossible in Europe, because Europe measures VOC different than the US. Beside that a US label clearly favors US products, discouraging the use of regional products. This is a big burden on projects and we always have an even harder time to explain to our clients, why they should spend money for that.
GreenGuard
Do products certified under this certification qualify for this credit? I looked at the qualification process for GreenGuard and it looks to address air born particulate. Which is a good thing but it does not set limits on the type of chemicals used for a product only total VOC's.
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC May 19 2010
Dan, the product certifications allowed by this credit are shown in the IEQc3.3 credit language, and how to find them is discussed in more detail in our guide to IEQc3.3 products.
I don't think Greenguard is among the certifications here. I think Greenguard is more focused on product off-gassing, whereas this credit is more general sustainability standards for cleaning products.
Dan Bramblett replied LEED AP, Estes Heating & Air Conditioning May 20 2010
Tristan,
Thank you, your comment is how I read the credit.
Sometimes you need double check yourself.
Disinfectants
I recently spoke with a representative of a cleaning company while researching the list of cleaning products a client wished to use in her facility. The representative told me that two of their products do not and can not achieve Green Seal of any other certification because of an EPA directive stating that no disinfectant can have ANY third-party certifications associated with it.
Has anyone else run into this situation? Are there any pathways other than established certifications by which disinfectants can meet the credit requirements?
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Jul 12 2010
This is an interesting issue that I had not heard about, but I did find this helpful document on the Green Seal website about the relationship between FIFRA and certification.
The representative you spoke with is partially correct. Products registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) cannot display a certification logo such as Green Seal's. However, they can be certified.
Avkash Patel replied Aug 18 2010
For some reason I can not get grasp a clear difference between Green Seal and EcoLogo (Environmental Choice). They both use science based methods to compare products ad services in the same category with green products across their life cycles.
Thanks
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Aug 20 2010
Green Seal and EcoLogo are very similar programs. The main difference is not the scope or method used, it is that they are run by completely different organizations. EcoLogo is based in Canada, while Green Seal is based in the U.S.
EcoLogo's new certification compliance qualifier
Does anyone know if USGBC will accept the new Eco-Logo certification for hand sanitizers (CCD-170) as a sustainable cleaning purchase that can count toward credit compliance? I believe it came out a few months ago and I have not seen anything yet.
Thanks!
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Aug 05 2010
How does CCD-170 stack up against the existing hand cleaner requirements in the credit language? Is it contradictory or redundant with them?
If not, I would guess that it would be accepted, though I haven't seen anything
specific so I don't know for sure.
Since the credit threshold is low (30%), I might include the compliant hand sanitizers but not count on them for compliance (i.e., have some cushion).
Help with review comments
Our project has been reviewd and following is the comment from USGBC
"Please provide documentation from manufacturers or suppliers that verifies product compliance with the specified sustainability criteria for a minimum of 20% of purchases by cost"
1) Do i have to provide the cut sheets of the products only or also the invoice scans for the purchased products?
2) We comply using 37% of the total purchase by cost.Do I have to give he total inventory and then show that we are using 37 % of products by cost?Is this detail required?
Jason Franken replied LEED Consultant, YRG sustainability Aug 10 2010
This is a common reviewer comment. You should provide the manufacturer cut sheets for at least 20% of the products that you are claiming meet the IEQc3.3 sustainability criteria. Make sure that the documentation clearly shows that the product meets the sustainability criteria. There is a column in the Credit Form tracking table labeled "Check if documentation provided". When you resubmit, make sure that this portion of the table is completed accurately; if so, the Credit Form will automatically calculate whether you have provided documentation for the appropriate percentage of your purchases.
LEED compliant trash liners
What is the regulation for trash liners? What percentage of the liner needs to be post consumer? Any list of trash liners that meet with LEED regulations? Thanks.
Jason Franken replied LEED Consultant, YRG sustainability Aug 10 2010
Per page 444 of the LEED for Green Building Operations and Maintenance Reference Guide (2009 edition), compliant plastic trash can liners must meet the recycled-content requirements of the EPA's "Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for Janitorial Paper and Plastic Trash Can Liners". The compliance threshold for these Guidelines is a minimum of 10% post-consumerWaste material generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product, which can no longer be used for its intended purpose. This includes returns of materials from the distribution chain (source: ISO 14021). Examples of this category include construction and demolition debris, materials collected through curbside and drop-off recycling programs, broken pallets (if from a pallet refurbishing company, not a pallet-making company), discarded products (e.g., furniture, cabinetry and decking) and urban maintenance waste (e.g., leaves, grass clippings, tree trimmings, etc.). recycled content. We don't have specific product endorsement information, but most suppliers currently carry a number of products that meet these requirements.
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