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What’s “rapidly renewable”?
Rapidly renewable materials must have a harvest cycle of 10 years or fewer. This includes materials like bamboo, agrifibers, and others listed on the chart below. Materials for this credit can come from either plants or animals—but they have to be harvested without harming the animal. Wool is okay; leather isn’t.
“Big ticket” items are just the ticket
This credit can be very easy to achieve—it only requires that a small percentage of the materials budget be spent on rapidly renewable materials. But it can become challenging unless you make a concerted effort to research and specify products with rapidly...
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23 Comments
Dairy products as finishes, not food!
I just got an email form Vermont Natural Coatings regarding their wood finishes made from post-industrialRefers to material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process. Excluded from this category is reutilization of materials such as scrap that are generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process. Generally synonymous with "pre-consumer." recycled whey (waste from the cheese-making process). I don't see it in any listing of rapidly renewableTerm describing a natural material that is grown and harvested on a relatively short-rotation cycle (defined by the LEED rating system to be ten years or less). resources but I really like the idea: MRc4 & 6 in one shot. How do you think GBCI will see it? How bout milk-based paints?
Susan, I would think that milk paints and whey-based paints would definitely qualify for MRc6. The rule of thumb with animal products is that if the animal is killed to extract the product—leather, for example—it does not qualify.
Rapidly Renewable binders
Hi,
I got curious with the above picture regarding rapidly renewableTerm describing a natural material that is grown and harvested on a relatively short-rotation cycle (defined by the LEED rating system to be ten years or less). material binderGlue used in manufacturing wood products, such as medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard, and engineered lumber. Most binders are made with formaldehyde. such as Knauf's Ecose binder.
How would you then calculate the material cost for this? Will it add significantly to complying with the required 2.5% by cost?
Thanks
Well, every little bit helps, so it's worth including this if you're using this insulation with the biobasedGenerally, classification of products and materials derived from plant and animal sources as opposed to minerals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a program to promote the use of emerging biobased products that defines them more narrowly, to exclude products that already have established markets, such as food, animal feed, and lumber. binderGlue used in manufacturing wood products, such as medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard, and engineered lumber. Most binders are made with formaldehyde.. The trick is figuring out how much of the product, by weight, in binder, because that's how you have to calculate the cost contribution.
Knauf doesn't seem to make that info readily available--I've sent them the question via their website. Pharos gives a very wide range: 1-17%, which isn't so help. Binder contributions for other products are listed in Pharos as 1-5%, so I'd say unless Knauf comes through with better data you'd be limited to claiming 2% or so.
Well, that was quick! Using the contact form on ecobatt.us I asked the question, and heard back quickly from Bob Gardner, Technical Services Manager, with this statement:
"5% of the EcoBatt product is the binderGlue used in manufacturing wood products, such as medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard, and engineered lumber. Most binders are made with formaldehyde.."
I followed up by asking him if that's documented anywhere online, and he replied that the respond to LEED requests individually, to address local/regional sourcing issues. So if you want documentation you have to ask for it.
But the 5% figure is much more useful than the conservative 2% I was suggesting--so yes, this CAN help earn the credit.
Are plantings considered a Rapid Renewable Material?
We are puttting seedums on the roof of a new building as part of a green roof installation. The seedums are planted ahead of time in segmental trays, and are installed on the roof once they have matured. We are wondering if the plants themselves can be considered a rapidly renewableTerm describing a natural material that is grown and harvested on a relatively short-rotation cycle (defined by the LEED rating system to be ten years or less). material. They seem to meet the criteria of taking less than 10 years to regenerate.
Keith, I think the answer is "no" for NC-v2.2, and "maybe" for NC-2009—for reasons discussed in this forum discussion on MRc6 for NC 2009. For the latter, it would be great if anyone has project experience to offer. Has anyone has this accepted?
Rounding up to meet 2.5% threshold
We have one rapidly renewableTerm describing a natural material that is grown and harvested on a relatively short-rotation cycle (defined by the LEED rating system to be ten years or less). material that only will give a range--23-25% of renewable materials. If we assume the average (24%), in the summation with all other rapidly renewable materials, we get 2.49%. Will GBCI allow us to 'round' this to 2.5% to meet the credit ? -have not tried it in the template yet to see if this is acceptable.
In general--What is the GBCI/USGBC policy on rounding any quantification---dollar or percentage, for any credit ? Thank you.
Alice, I haven't been in this situation (so close!) but the advice I have heard on this is that rounding up is not allowed. In this situation my advice would be 1) try to tweak the calculations, e.g. scrutinize your budget to see if you can justifiably make it smaller, or looking for small additional amounts of renewable content. 2) apply for the credit and include a narrative explaining why you think you are close enough to the threshold to deserve to earn the credit.
Tristan, yes, thanks; alas, that's what I thought the response might be. Will go look for that bulletin board now....
Agrifiber board vs. Particleboard
We are building a school and specified Agrifiber boardA composite panel product derived from recovered agricultural waste fiber from sources including, but not limited to, cereal straw, sugarcane bagasse, sunflower husk, walnut shells, coconut husks, and agricultural prunings. The raw fibers are processed and mixed with resins to produce panel products with characteristics similar to those derived from wood fiber. as a millwork substrate rather than MDFMedium-density fiberboard (MDF): Panel product used in cabinets and furniture; generally made from wood fiber glued together with binder; similar to particleboard, but with finer texture, offering more precise finishing. Most MDF is made with formaldehyde-emitting urea-formaldehyde binder. or particleboard. We are getting resistance from the contractor and millwork subcontractors saying that the agrifiber board is quite difficult to work with, fasten into and that the panels warp easliy. We've done research and the ASTMVoluntary standards development organization which creates source technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services testing shows that the product is superior to wood-based particleboard in moisture resistance, dimensional stability and structural properties. Does anyone have any concrete evidence that this product is superior or comparison studies between the two? Has anyone worked with subs on a project that had a positive opinion of this or any other board made with renewable biomass? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
We have heard similar comments about wheat boards. The movable wall and also furniture manufacturer told us that they don't use it anymore because of the lack in quality and stability. Bamboo based particle boards might be an option.
Base Line Budget and Change Orders
Must Change Orders be added to the Base Line Budget so that
the final cost of the project can only be determined at the end?
Yes. This is a construction submittal, so the documentation should be submitted when all that information is in.
Thanks. Can non-construction related items such as LD's,
liquidated damages, be excluded from the Base Line Budget?
If these are not materials costs, then yes.
Eucalyptus tree as rapidly renewable?
On a recent product submission, a manufacturer indicated that a portion of their product consisted of eucalyptus tree fiber which was applicable to the MRc6 credit. My understanding was that no tree material was to be applicable to the calculations since the USGBC has studied it and indicated that no tree species meets the 10-year renewal criteria. Is my understanding correct or can we count this portion towards the credit calculations?
You are correct. That credit was written to exclude trees, since they are covered under MRc7.
Wheatboard Manufacturers on the East Coast
We have millworkers claiming that wheatboard is no longer available regionally to the DC metro area and that the only manufacturers are now on the west coast. This has made the manufacturing of millwork with wheatboard unaffordable due to the increased charges associated with transportation. Does anyone have an affordable source for wheatboard or other rapidly renewableTerm describing a natural material that is grown and harvested on a relatively short-rotation cycle (defined by the LEED rating system to be ten years or less). substrate they can recommend on the east coast to central US?
Hi Linda, I can't speak to the affordability, but you might want to contact Environ Biocomposites directly at 800-324-8187 (http://www.environbiocomposites.com/products.php). They are in our GreenSpec directory at
www.buildinggreen.com/katma/product.cfm?productID=683. The company is in Minnesota but may have a list of regional distributors for their wheatboard. On the East Coast, you might try ECO Supply Center and Brooklyn-based Bettencourt Green Building Supplies. Hope this is helpful!
Brent
Rapidly Renewable Building Materials Domestically Manufactured
Our construction company builds projects for the federal government, which has "Buy-American" clauses in its contracts. This has pretty much shut us out of achieving MRc6. Does anyone out there know of domestic manufacturing companies that do not acquire their RR materials overseas?
Thanks,
Elliot
Elliot, have you checked out the "GreenSpec Products" sidebar to the right? There are a ton of ideas there, and although you need a BuildingGreen Suite membership to view the results when you click through, it's a worthwhile resource.
While items like bamboo, linoleum, and wool are likely to be made overseas, what about items like cotton (insulation), agrifiber (straw-core doors, straw panels), or soy-based products? While I can't say for sure, any of these products seem likely to have domestic sources.
Anyone else? And please keep us posted on what you learn.
The USDA actually has a database of rapidly renewableTerm describing a natural material that is grown and harvested on a relatively short-rotation cycle (defined by the LEED rating system to be ten years or less). products which are eligible for preferred procurement by government agencies....http://www.biopreferred.gov/
(Click on the "Buy Products link on the right side of the page for the catalog)
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