The Health Product Declaration (HPD) has become an important specification tool for LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 projects. The HPD offers two key items: a content inventory and a list of potential health hazards associated with product ingredients. However, navigating the HPD Open Standard can be difficult for building product manufacturers. In this continuing series, we will examine the HPD Open Standard and how it applies to building product manufacturers and suppliers.
Today we will examine Certifications and Compliance in Section 2.1.5. and also review the Pre-Checked for Consistency with Other Programs in the Summary section. Both of these sections play a critical role and building product manufacturers should be aware of the various details. If some of this information or jargon doesn’t make sense, please refer to earlier parts of this educational overview.
Type of Certification & Name of Certification
Building product manufacturers must include Categories and Titles of the first four Certifications and Compliance entries, as indexed in HPD Format Section 3: Certifications and Compliance. When applicable, certifications related to VOC Emissions and VOC Content are prioritized and must be listed first. This is pretty straight forward for most manufacturers to complete.
Pre-Checked for Consistency with Other Programs
This is a preliminary indicator of consistency with specific requirements of third-party programs such as LEED. It includes a mechanical cross-checking of specific requirements for contribution of the HPD to programs and checks the presence of entries for all fields required by the HPD Open Standard. This pre-check does not assess data quality, compliance of the HPD with the HPD Open Standard requirements, or requirements for publication.
In HPD versions 2.1 and 2.1.1, a LEED v4 pre-check was integrated directly into the HPD Open Standard. However, the LEED ratings system is constantly evolving, independent of the revision cycles for the HPD Open Standard. Therefore, revisions may apply in the future for other rating programs. A common misconception by inexperienced project teams or manufacturers, is assuming that the LEED v4 Pre-Check means the HPD will contribute to the LEED credit. That is simply not the case as we shall see…
LEED v4 Pre-Check
The LEED v4 Pre-Check is a preliminary indicator of consistency with specific requirements for the LEED v4 BD+C and ID+C Materials and Resources credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization: Material Ingredients. It consists of a mechanical cross-checking of inventory method; threshold; residuals and impurities; and other requirements of the LEED v4 credit; and it checks for presence of entries for all fields required by HPD Open Standard. It is critical to understand that the pre-check does not assess data quality or requirements for publication. This pre-check is intended to be carried out by the HPD Builder or other automated programs for producing an HPD.
The LEED v4 Material Ingredients Pre-Check should assess the following for the Nested Inventory Method and Basic Inventory Method for Option 1: threshold levels, residuals and impurities, characterized, screened, and special conditions, as well as other factors. It is critical that all of the required data fields be completed. For Option 2, many of the same requirements apply however they are more stringent. For example, the threshold must be 100 ppm instead of 1000 ppm. GreenScreen requirements also make the Option more difficult.
If the requirements are not met or the optional pre-check is not conducted, the following will be printed on the HPD: No pre-checks completed or disclosed. It should be noted that If the HPD contains a Special Condition material or substance, the requirements of Special Conditions Best Practices guidance must be followed to meet the LEED Pre-Check.
Bottom Line: Building product manufacturers should be very careful when completing their HPD and providing the necessary data. Manufacturers who do not fully complete the required fields in the template or skip a section may not receive the notification: “Pre-checked for LEED v4 Material Ingredients Options 1 and/or 2.” In addition, it is important to note that even if a manufacturer’s HPD does receive the LEED v4 precheck, it still may not qualify for the LEED credit. It is only a pre-check, not a 100% guarantee that the HPD meets all of the requirements for the LEED v4 credit.
Manufacturers are encouraged to use the resources available at the HPDC website to ensure that their HPD meets all requirements. In addition, product manufacturers may consider hiring a 3rd party consultant to ensure that their HPD meets all of the requirements and passes all of the hurdles to be “LEED” compliant. ▪