“Maximizing Points in the Materials and Resources Category of LEED BD+C”
LEED BD+C (Building Design and Construction) is a certification program for commercial buildings that encourages sustainability practices. One of the categories under this program is Materials and Resources, which awards up to 13 points to the projects. In order to achieve these points, projects need to comply with specific requirements for each credit.
The credits under the Materials and Resources category are as follows:
- Storage and Collection of Recyclables: This credit is mandatory and requires the installation of multi-coloured dustbins for segregating waste into dry, wet, e-waste, and hazardous categories.
- Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning: This credit is mandatory and requires the development and implementation of a construction and demolition waste management plan to ensure that waste is segregated on-site.
- Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction: This credit awards up to 6 points for reducing the building’s life-cycle impact. Two points can be achieved by demonstrating 5% reuse of materials, and an additional two points can be earned by demonstrating 70% reuse of historic materials.
- Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Environmental Product Declarations: This credit awards 2 points for using at least 20 different permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers that have product declarations or EPDs.
- Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Sourcing of Raw Materials: This credit awards 2 points for using at least 20 different permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers that have publicly released a report from their raw material suppliers including their extraction locations, a commitment to long-term ecologically responsible land use, and a commitment to reducing environmental harms from extraction and/or manufacturing processes.
- Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material Ingredients: This credit awards 2 points for using at least 20 different permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers that have publicly disclosed their chemical inventory.
- Construction and Demolition Waste Management: This credit awards 2 points for recycling and/or salvaging non-hazardous construction and demolition materials.
In terms of documentation requirements, the projects need to provide evidence of compliance for each credit. The table below summarizes the documentation requirements for each credit:
| Credit | Documentation Requirements | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Storage and Collection of Recyclables | Installation of multi-coloured dustbins | Photographs of installed dustbins |
| Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning | Waste management plan | Copy of the waste management plan |
| Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction | Demonstration of reuse of materials | Invoices of reused materials |
| Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Environmental Product Declarations | Product declarations or EPDs | Copies of product declarations or EPDs |
| Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Sourcing of Raw Materials | Reports from raw material suppliers | Copies of supplier reports |
| Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material Ingredients | Chemical inventory disclosure | Copies of chemical inventory disclosure |
| Construction and Demolition Waste Management | Recycling and/or salvaging receipts | Copies of recycling and/or salvaging receipts |
Projects located in certain regions may face constraints in achieving all the points under the Materials and Resources category. For example, projects in areas with limited recycling facilities may face difficulty in achieving the Construction and Demolition Waste Management credit. In such cases, alternative waste management strategies such as reuse and reduction may be employed to achieve the required credits.