Samala Hartley, Sustainable Building Associate
There are three Materials and Resources credits that focus on the disclosure and optimization of materials used on a project. The intent of these credits is to encourage the use of products where manufacturers are forthright with all the material and chemical ingredients used and their practices to procure raw materials.
LEED v4, MRc4, “Building product disclosure and optimization – sourcing of raw materials” places preference on manufacturers who publicly report information about their raw material suppliers and on responsible harvesting and extraction. In the point system, these two ideas are not exclusive to one another.
In addition to specifically emphasizing the sourcing of raw materials, this credit also combines a variety of other v3 materials credits into one. The following credits from v3 show up within v4 MRc4:
- MRc3 – Materials Reuse
- MRc4 – Recycled Content
- MRc5 – Regional Materials
- MRc6 – Rapidly Renewable Materials
- MRc6 – Certified Wood
Now, let’s dissect that credit title.
Building Product Disclosure & Optimization: Sourcing of Raw Materials
Building product: the permanently installed products of a building, separate from the installation costs.
What are the options?
Option 1: Raw material source and extraction reporting
This option requires the use of materials from manufacturers that publicly disclose information about their product’s raw material suppliers and their commitment to ecological and environmental responsibility.
- Products from manufacturers who disclose their practices through a third party verified corporate sustainability report qualify as 1 full product.
- Products from manufacturers who create their own, unverified, report qualify as ½ a product.
Option 2: Leadership extraction practices
- Extended producer responsibility (50% of the product value can contribute)
- Bio-based materials: Meet Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard (verifies sustainable harvesting)
- Wood products: Meet FSC certified
- Materials Reuse: salvaged, refurbished, & reused products
- Recycled Content: sum of post-consumer plus ½ pre-consumer recycled content