LEEDuser expert
Batya Metalitz
USGBC
Technical Director, LEED
LEEDuser’s viewpoint
Explore this LEED credit
Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.
Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
Pilot Credit Closed
This pilot credit was closed on 3/15/2017. Projects registered for this pilot prior to 3/15/2017 may continue to use the pilot credit as part of their certification.
To increase the use of products and materials with life cycles, ingredients, and attributes that improve overall environmental, economic and social performance.
Requirements
Option 1. environmental product declaration (EPD) (1 point)
Use at least 20 different permanently installed products sourced from at least five different manufacturers that meet one of the disclosure criteria below.- Product-specific declaration.
- Products with a publicly available, critically reviewed life-cycle assessment conforming to ISO 14044 that have at least a cradle to gate scope are valued as one quarter (1/4) of a product for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.
- Environmental product declarations which conform to ISO 14025 and EN 15804 or ISO 21930 and have at least a cradle to gate scope.
- Industry-wide (generic) EPD -- Products with third-party certification (Type III), including external verification, in which the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as a participant by the program operator are valued as one half (1/2) of a product for purposes of credit achievement calculation.
- Product-specific Type III EPD -- Products with third-party certification (Type III), including external verification in which the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as the participant by the program operator are valued as one whole product for purposes of credit achievement calculation.
- USGBC approved program – Products that comply with other USGBC approved environmental product declaration frameworks.
General Pilot Documentation Requirements
Register for the pilot credit- Participate in the LEEDuser pilot credit forum
- Complete the feedback survey:
Credit specific:
Prepare a list of products purchased contributing toward credit. List the cost and number of items purchased, include information of percentage of product contributing to each criterion. Calculate the weighted value according to total weight of materials purchased. The scope of credits is envisioned to include all non-structural materials that have previously been included in LEED Materials and Resources credits plus those specifically listed as optional, i.e. all product permanently installed products excluding structural and envelope materials.Additional questions:
- Was information on the location of products’ final manufacturing location easily available? (Especially when only counting a percentage of weight)
- How likely are you to include furniture in this credit? Why/why not?
- Do you find that many products comply with more than one attribute for this credit or these are difficult to come across? (i.e. you are able to use recycled content from a local manufacturer that has a closed-loop recycling program?)
- Do you believe the performance threshold of 50% is reasonable? Does it instigate market change?
Changes:
- Changes as a result of 3rd Public Comment (3/1/2012): The Bio-based option has been removed Qualifying recycled content is now required to have extended producer responsibility For project located outside a CBSA the default requirement has been modified from the projects county to a 50 mile radius.
- Changes made from 5th Public Comment (01/15/2013): Updated to align with Building product disclosure and optimization - environmental product declarations Option 1
- Pilot credit closed (03/15/2017)
What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
See all forum discussions about this credit »Documentation toolkit
The motherlode of cheat sheets
LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
Pilot Credit Closed
This pilot credit was closed on 3/15/2017. Projects registered for this pilot prior to 3/15/2017 may continue to use the pilot credit as part of their certification.
To increase the use of products and materials with life cycles, ingredients, and attributes that improve overall environmental, economic and social performance.
Requirements
Option 1. environmental product declaration (EPD) (1 point)
Use at least 20 different permanently installed products sourced from at least five different manufacturers that meet one of the disclosure criteria below.- Product-specific declaration.
- Products with a publicly available, critically reviewed life-cycle assessment conforming to ISO 14044 that have at least a cradle to gate scope are valued as one quarter (1/4) of a product for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.
- Environmental product declarations which conform to ISO 14025 and EN 15804 or ISO 21930 and have at least a cradle to gate scope.
- Industry-wide (generic) EPD -- Products with third-party certification (Type III), including external verification, in which the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as a participant by the program operator are valued as one half (1/2) of a product for purposes of credit achievement calculation.
- Product-specific Type III EPD -- Products with third-party certification (Type III), including external verification in which the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as the participant by the program operator are valued as one whole product for purposes of credit achievement calculation.
- USGBC approved program – Products that comply with other USGBC approved environmental product declaration frameworks.
General Pilot Documentation Requirements
Register for the pilot credit- Participate in the LEEDuser pilot credit forum
- Complete the feedback survey:
Credit specific:
Prepare a list of products purchased contributing toward credit. List the cost and number of items purchased, include information of percentage of product contributing to each criterion. Calculate the weighted value according to total weight of materials purchased. The scope of credits is envisioned to include all non-structural materials that have previously been included in LEED Materials and Resources credits plus those specifically listed as optional, i.e. all product permanently installed products excluding structural and envelope materials.Additional questions:
- Was information on the location of products’ final manufacturing location easily available? (Especially when only counting a percentage of weight)
- How likely are you to include furniture in this credit? Why/why not?
- Do you find that many products comply with more than one attribute for this credit or these are difficult to come across? (i.e. you are able to use recycled content from a local manufacturer that has a closed-loop recycling program?)
- Do you believe the performance threshold of 50% is reasonable? Does it instigate market change?
Changes:
- Changes as a result of 3rd Public Comment (3/1/2012): The Bio-based option has been removed Qualifying recycled content is now required to have extended producer responsibility For project located outside a CBSA the default requirement has been modified from the projects county to a 50 mile radius.
- Changes made from 5th Public Comment (01/15/2013): Updated to align with Building product disclosure and optimization - environmental product declarations Option 1
- Pilot credit closed (03/15/2017)
LEEDuser expert
Batya Metalitz
USGBC
Technical Director, LEED
