Well Susan, on our project LEED-NC we are trying to do the same approach of trying the LEED EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. MRc8 electronic waste, but we are still on search for more info about it, if we reached anything would be pleased to share it. We are also studying considerning another apprach that wass tated in the ID c1 in the reference guide P. 596 "Divert significant volumes of waste generated from sources other than the project building site and associated grounds via expanded waste management and diversion programs. For
example, provide a collection and recycling program that allows building occupants or members of the community to bring in end-of-life home electronic equipment for recycling." This depends on home electronics, but Still haven't reached any info about this approach, so if you or anyone tried this approach, would be pleased to share experience about it.

Lyle,

On replacement value, I think you'd be fine if you just priced replacement equipment through a public vendor. You'll need to be a bit thoughtful about it - the replacement value of a 10 year old desktop PC clearly isn't the cost of a brand new laptop - but I don't think there is a standard source for those values.

And yes, I think your approach by weight is sensible. Estimating weights within reason should be sufficient.

I think for both of the above, the degree of scrutiny you place on the value or weight of individual items might increase depending on your diversion rate. . .

Hope that helps,

Dan

Thanks, Dan. I think weight will be much easier (and more appropriate) than replacement cost.

These contract IT programs are fairly common, IBM run a pretty big one. Talk with the IT department and have them contact the computer/IT company for reference documents, copy of the contract etc. As long as you have the details of what went out of the building is a clearly followable format, it should be fine. No chain of custody is required...unfortunately....maybe that's something we should push for.

Actually, if you have an eWaste pickup event that collects equipment both from your project building and the public, you have a chance to earn two points. Track the material collected from your project building and submit those totals for MRc8, and then document materials dropped off by the public (or brought from employees' homes) as a separate Innovation credit. Be sure to include a description of how you marketed the event and how materials were tracked and stored. This has been used as a successful Innovation strategy by many past projects.

Hi Emily, can you clarify your question? by definition durable goodsDurable goods have a useful life of 2 years or more and are replaced infrequently or may require capital program outlays. Examples include furniture, office equipment, appliances, external power adapters, televisions, and audiovisual equipment. are just that, along with equipment such as maintenance, vehicle fleet what other items do you have left?

Sorry for not being clear. My issue is that we track the weight of recycled durable goodsDurable goods have a useful life of 2 years or more and are replaced infrequently or may require capital program outlays. Examples include furniture, office equipment, appliances, external power adapters, televisions, and audiovisual equipment., but don't have a clear sense of the weight of the landfilled durable goods that we throw away. All of our landfill is lumped in one report (ongoing consumablesOngoing consumables have a low cost per unit and are regularly used and replaced in the course of business. Examples include paper, toner cartridges, binders, batteries, and desk accessories., food, durable goods, etc) so figuring out the % of durable goods that we divert is proving difficult. Just wondering if others have had this problem and how to tell what % of durable goods we divert if we don't know the number of durable goods we throw away. Hope this helps.

Hi Emily - This is a common question about calculating durable goodsDurable goods have a useful life of 2 years or more and are replaced infrequently or may require capital program outlays. Examples include furniture, office equipment, appliances, external power adapters, televisions, and audiovisual equipment.. There are two things to consider here: 1. Although X pounds of durable goods waste may be collected, some fraction may still end up in the landfill. Broken office furniture often cannot easily be recycled or reused, and therefore is landfilled. So it is not uncommon for a durable goods diversion rate to be less than 100%. 2. Noone sorts their landfill-directed waste, so noone really knows if durable goods are slipping out in that stream. That is why GBCI requires a quality control program to at least try to ensure no durable goods are getting into the waste stream untracked or uncontrolled. As I'm sure you know, this is very common on university campuses where students often have direct access to dumpsters and simply toss things in at all hours of the day/night. So ultimately, if you do recycle all the DG waste you collect, your diversion rate will be 100% - just be sure you have a sound QC effort in place to help GBCI feel confident that material isn't slipping between the cracks.

Hope that helps,

Dan

You do not have to break the data out into individual line items, especially if you have hauler receipts that show the weight/volume as an aggregate value. That being said, you're not required to provide hauler receipts as supporting documentation anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

We are currently tracking our ongoing consumablesOngoing consumables have a low cost per unit and are regularly used and replaced in the course of business. Examples include paper, toner cartridges, binders, batteries, and desk accessories. by volume, but our e-waste vendor tracks our recycled electronics by weight...will this be an issue or do metrics need to be consistent across only the same credit category? Thanks so much!

Nope, that's fine. You can use different measurement metrics for different credits, as long as you're consistent within a single credit. It's actually much better to use a weight metric for MRc8, as a volume metric may not be as representative for electronic equipment.

Your logic makes sense. I'm curious how you'd be recycling or salvaging them? If they are older, inefficient models it may be counterproductive environmentally speaking to keep them in use.

Yes, that's correct. It should be part of an overall plan and not just a random one-time occurrence to earn the credit.

I think it can be that simple, but not necessarily. As Tristan notes, there's more to it than moving furniture around the office. In most instances, the reviewer is looking to see that there is an organized effort in place to store and reuse furniture over the medium or long term. So if that 'extra' chair gets pulled over from an empty cubicle, or is coming from storage while the carpet was replaced, that's not quite what the credit envisions. On the other hand, if you have a basement where you keep surplus furniture or work stations and can meet changing occupant needs without purchasing a new item, mission accomplished!

so if ia am storing funrature for a future renovation, would that count twards my recycled / salvaged costs?

If you have old furniture you have placed in storage to be reused at at uncertain date and/or location in the future, that fits the credit intent. If, on the other hand, you remove furniture from a space as part of a renovation project with the plan to return the furniture to that space when the project is complete, that is not reuse/salvage as the credit envisions.

I can't seem to find the stipulation but just wanted to confirm that storage does not necessarily have to be at the project site. Such as a central storage center for county facilities. Thanks!

Jeff, I am not away of a stipulation that the furniture would have to be stored on-site. I think a central facility would be fine.

I can confirm Tristan's answer on this Jeff - central storage facility off-site is 100% fine.

Dan

Walker, check out the LEED addenda, which update the Reference Guide and note an EP pont for MRc8.

I'm not aware of any language allowing an exception here, although I could see a precedent based on NC MRc1.

I don't believe there are exceptions for materials that are deemed hazardous waste. The intent of the credit is to increase the diversion of materials from landfill - if a facility is unable to actually divert a qualifying amount of material because of the classification of the waste, it would just mean that the project would not be able to qualify for this particular credit.

Jason makes a great point; EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. does not articulate an exception of this type. I do think, on the other hand, that one could reasonably argue that hazardous waste represents a unique, highly regulated waste stream that is outside the scope of this credit, much in the way that asbestos-containing ceiling tiles might be in a construction waste situation. The intent of the credit might be further understood as to divert a qualifying amount of eligible material in that sense. I think it may come down to your individual situation, the relative amounts of waste involved, and how you present your argument. Jason's conclusion is definitely correct and the safe model around which to plan your point projections, but I would be tempted to make your case to the reviewer if you feel strongly.

I would consider them ongoing consumablesOngoing consumables have a low cost per unit and are regularly used and replaced in the course of business. Examples include paper, toner cartridges, binders, batteries, and desk accessories.. The lifespan of many filters is measured in days or months, not years, which seems to put them on the shorter-term scale. And they are a consumable product, not a "durable" one.

The important thing, as you probably know, is to make a consistent determination one way or the other.

John,

After speaking to a few haulers and vendors in California, we found that there is not a method in place for recycling filters. We've been looking for a place to take used filters to be recycled. Can you please provide more information?

Hi Andy,
The complete composition of the filters are metal framed, plastic holding parts perpendicular to the filter (kinda' inside the frame), pleated filter cell w/ a mesh of bent wire holding the filter fabric in the direction of the air flow. Currently the project team's maintenance contractor dismantles all the AHU1.Air-handling units (AHUs) are mechanical indirect heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning systems in which the air is treated or handled by equipment located outside the rooms served, usually at a central location, and conveyed to and from the rooms by a fan and a system of distributing ducts. (NEEB, 1997 edition) 2.A type of heating and/or cooling distribution equipment that channels warm or cool air to different parts of a building. This process of channeling the conditioned air often involves drawing air over heating or cooling coils and forcing it from a central location through ducts or air-handling units. Air-handling units are hidden in the walls or ceilings, where they use steam or hot water to heat, or chilled water to cool the air inside the ductwork. filters into its basic components. These are then stored in separated boxes and then are periodically given to a waste hauler for recycling. A very dedicated team! Reminds me of doing that to carpet sample binders in the garage just yesterday to ship back to the manufacturer.

I evaluated the materials based on consistent determination within the entire project submittal rather than if the material was exactly "ongoing" vs "durable".

As a project team member, however, I would have placed them in ongoing consumable per Tristan's thoughts, though these types of filters (international project) last longer than the ones we typically think of.