This is a pretty simple credit; meet the minimum requirements of Sections 4 through 7 of ASHRAE 62.1-2004, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality.
The idea behind this requirement is to help keep the buildings well ventilated, so that the indoor conditioned areas aren’t too stuffy or consistently filled with recycled air. Active, passive and mixed-mode ventilation are all recommended means to keep the building fresh.
One of the main reasons that this category exists is because many of the products we currently use in building construction are not conducive to a proper living situation. The rooms are either too hot, too cold, too damp, smell funny, smell like chemicals, give us headaches, don’t have good lighting, or don’t have any windows to the outside. I once worked on a job site as an intern where my office had absolutely no views of the outside, just the dirty trailer walls. In order to see daylight you had to literally walk out of the room and down the hall.
Since people spend so much time indoors, it is worth the investment to create a comfortable environment for them. This is achieved through the last and often times most forgot about section of LEED: Indoor Environmental Quality.
The intent of this credit is to encourage the use of wood that is harvested in a renewable manner. The US Green Building Council wants to reward those projects which use wood that promotes environmentally responsible forest management.
You can achieve this credit if 50% of your wood based products are FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council). You are eligible for an exemplary performance point if you bump this up to 95%.
This is a construction submittal to prove that you have the required materials in place as planned.
This credit helps encourage people to use rapidly renewable materials in their project. These rapidly renewable materials include things such as bamboo, wool, cotton insulation, agrifiber, linoleum, wheatboard, strawboard and cork. The reason that using rapidly renewable materials is considered “Green” is because they are very abundant and easy to renew. Wood is considered a renewable resource because after all, it does end up growing back. The only problem is that it takes decades for a tree to grow to the point where it can be efficiently harvested. These rapidly renewable materials are ready for harvesting year after year.
The requirement to achieve a point for this credit is to use rapidly renewable materials for 2.5% of your total building value. If you increase this value to 5%, you are eligible for an exemplary performance point.
This is part of the construction submittal to prove that the materials are installed as planned and required.
The intent of this credit is to have construction sites use materials that are considered “local”. The thing which defines “local” is being harvested and manufactured within 500 miles of the jobsite. The reason this is a sustainable practice is because it helps cut down on the emissions and fuel consumption used in transporting materials across the country or around the world. However, what if the materials are harvested 500 miles south of the jobsite, trucked 1000 miles north to a spot just 500 miles north of the jobsite for manufacturing, then trucked to a spot 500 miles east of the jobsite for storage, then finally trucked 500 miles from the warehouse to the jobsite. Total miles that those materials traveled is now over 2k, might as well have come from across the country.
Either way, the restrictions do support the use of regional materials. You get credit 5.1 for having 10% of your material cost on local materials, and you get credit 5.2 if you bump that percentage up to 20%. If you bump that number up to 40%, you can qualify for an exemplary performance point too. You can double up on points if you are buying rapidly renewable, recycled or reused materials locally.
This is part of the construction submittal documentation.
The LEED exam is a pretty tough test to pass, so many companies have developed paid study guides to help you pass the exam. Some offer a money-back guarantee that you will pass, others offer to pay for your re-test if you fail, etc. The problem with paying for a prep system is that not only are you investing money out of pocket, you are going to be investing a lot of time following their study guide. I have found that some study guides aren’t even that great; their info is outdated, and sometimes their sample questions are flat incorrect.
I started a site to help people figure out which study system they should be investing in, and I have included the LEED exam in the mix. Take a look at the LEED Exam Study Guide Reviews.
There are a total of three points available for this topic. You have the 4.1 which is your basic 10%, you have the 4.2 which is your more advanced 20%, but then if you hit a whopping 30%, you can apply for an additional ID credit for exemplary performance.
This whole intent of this credit is to encourage builders and designers to incorporate recycled material into their project rather than using virgin matierals. The idea behind this theory is that using recycled materials is more renewable. One thought that I have regarding this is that sometimes it may create a larger carbon footprint to recycle old materials than it would be just to go out and harvest new materials. I think that the reasoning behind wanting to recycle is mainly that it will reduce the size and strain of our landfills.
Regardless of the whole theory behind recycling, this credit section does have 3 points available, which could be pretty important in your overall LEED strategy.
Intent: Implement the use of used materials into the design to reduce the demand for new materials.
In order to achieve this credit, you are required to use salvaged, refurbished or reused materials for 5% of the total cost of all materials for the job.
Approach: Incorporate the use of used materials into the design.
The calculations involve tracking the used material costs and the overall project material costs. There is an exemplary performance point available for projects that increase the requirement to 15%. This is part of the construction submittal.
This is the same credit as MRc2.1, however the level of recycling is increased to 75% from 50%. Keep in mind that if you hit 95% recycling on the jobsite, you will be eligible for 3 points: MRc2.1, MRc2.2 and the exemplary performance ID credit.
The intent of this credit is to recycle more construction material and divert construction waste from the landfill.
Requirements: Divert at least 50% of the construction waste from the landfill. This 50% is to be either weight or volume, but the calculations must be consistant throughout.
Approach: Recycle as much of the construction waste as possible. Designate separate recycling areas for specified materials. Recycle items like insulation, carpet, wallboard, glass, plastic, wood, concrete, tile, brick, metal, etc.
The Calculations involve figuring out if you achieve the 50% or not. There is an exemplary performance point available if you increase the level to 95%. This will be part of the construction submittal.