What LEED v5 credit should building product manufacturers focus on? What LEED credit will offer most manufacturers the highest ROI? Today we will discuss one of the most important LEED v5 credits and how it can benefit manufacturers.
LEED v5: Raising the Bar
LEED v5 BD+C is still in the public comment and Beta phase. The new LEED ratings system is set to launch in 2025. Embracing market demands for greater accountability, LEED v5 will champion solutions to align the built environment with critical imperatives including decarbonization, ecosystem conservation and restoration, equity, health, and resilience. LEED v5 will drive real-world impact and positive change worldwide.
There are multiple LEED v5 Material and Resources credits that can benefit product manufacturers. They include credits like Assess and Quantify Embodied Carbon, Building and Materials Reuse, and Low-Emitting Materials which has now been moved from the IEQ category to the MR category. However, the most important credit with the most potential points for the majority of manufacturers will be the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credit.
Overview Of Building Product Disclosure and Optimization
The phrase Building Product Disclosure and Optimization is probably familiar to many of you since it was used in LEED v4. Several credits had a building disclosure option and an optimization option. One of the most popular and discussed LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 credits was the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization -Material Ingredients credit. Manufacturers could contribute to the credit using a Health Product Declaration (HPD), Declare Label, or Cradle to Cradle Certification.
The new Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credit combines many credits and strategies from LEED v4 into a single credit that can help manufacturers contribute several points. The new credit combines five credits from LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 including:
- MR credit: Environmental Product Declarations
- MR credit: Material Ingredients
- MR credit: Sourcing of Raw Materials
- MR pilot credit: Circular Products
- MR pilot credit: Social Equity Within the Supply Chain
In this credit there are three achievement levels for products. Evaluation will be based on how products perform with respect to these achievement levels.
Level 1: A product in this level achieves a first step towards sustainability for a criteria area. Widespread achievement of these practices drive market transformation towards sustainability outcomes within the criteria area.
Level 2: This level represents a leadership position in the marketplace for a given sustainability attribute. Products at this level are optimized and demonstrate a level of sustainability that peers aspire to achieve.
Level 3: Products that earn this level are elite and represent the forefront of sustainability.
The criteria and achievement levels are based on five topics including climate health, human health, ecosystem health, social health and equity, and the circular economy. There are two ways to earn points in this credit.
- Option 1 provides a pathway to select products with multi-attributes from a diverse range of unique manufacturers.
- Option 2 provides a calculation method to determine how much of one or more specific product categories have achieved multi-attribute criteria.
How Manufacturers Can Use Existing HPDs, EPDs, and Declare Labels
If your company has already created an EPD, HPD, Declare Label, and other approved declarations and certifications, you can use these for the new LEED v5 credit. For Option 1, a manufacturer will need to contribute to three of the categories we discussed to contribute to the LEED credit. Achieving the three criteria areas may come from more than one document for the product. For example, a product could have an HPD, an EPD, and some recycled content to achieve the multi-attribute criteria.
Option 2 rewards the selection of eligible interior and enclosure materials from the following product categories:
- Paints and coatings
- Adhesives and sealants
- Flooring
- Walls
- Ceilings
- Insulation
- Furniture
- Composite Wood
- Plumbing fixtures
Eligible products meet the achievement levels and are scored as 1, 2, 3. These scores are added across criteria areas to add up to a maximum score of 5 per product. This cumulative score is called the product “multi-attribute score.” Option 2 uses an equation and Table to calculate the final score.
Gameplan For Product Manufacturers
Manufacturers that have not developed basic documentation like HPDs are going to lose out on getting their products specified. Manufacturers that have HPDs, EPDs, recycled content documentation, certified wood documentation, etc. will be given preference for product specification. Manufacturers are encouraged to consult with a sustainability expert like Elixir Environmental to create sustainable documentation and determine potential LEED contributions.
Currently, LEED v5 BD+C is in the second round of public comment. The final ratings system is intended to be voted on in early 2025 and launched. LEED v5 is a comprehensive framework designed to drive the market towards a near-zero carbon reality that is equitable, resilient, and promotes the wise, safe use of all resources. Manufacturers need to be proactive to succeed.
Call To Action
Building product manufacturers that want to develop Health Product Declarations (HPDs), Declare Labels, and LEED documentation to meet LEED requirements should contact Elixir Environmental for a free consultation. There are limited slots available for this program and manufacturers are scheduled on a first-come basis.
Tara Blank, Ph.D
Owner/Founder of Elixir Environmental
(971) 402-0651