Section 2: Individual LEED Credit Reviews
LEED Credit MR-4.2:
Procurement Guidelines (e.g., concrete with flyash
or slag) in addition to products that incorporate
Recycled Content, 10%
recycled content as standard industry practice (e.g.,
steel).
In other projects, attaining the credit's 10 percent
Intent
performance threshold will require the selection
and specification of a number of specific high-
Increase the demand for building products that
recycled-content products. Examples include:
have incorporated recycled content materials,
therefore reducing the impacts resulting from
Nylon carpets or carpet tiles with recycled
the extraction and processing of new virgin
nylon and/or PVC
materials.
"Synthetic" gypsum wallboard
Mineral-fiber based ceiling tiles (greater than
Requirement
50 percent recycled content)
Use materials with recycled content such that the
Ceramic tiles with recycled glass or mining
sum of post-consumer recycled content plus
tailings
one-half of the post-industrial content
Biocomposite countertops with recycled
constitutes at least 10% of the total value of the
newsprint
materials in the project.
Wallcoverings with recycled paper and/or
The value of the recycled content portion of a
polymers
material or furnishing shall be determined by
Resilient flooring with recycled rubber,
dividing the weight of recycled content in the
polymers, or cork
item by the total weight of all material in the
These types of materials must be carefully reviewed
item, then multiplying the resulting percentage
by design teams to determine how they may impact
by the total value of the item
design options and/or project costs.
Mechanical and electrical components shall not
be included in this calculation. Recycled content
Basis for Cost Assumption
materials shall be defined in accordance with the
federal Trade Commission document, Guidelines
For both the Courthouse and Office Building
for the use of Environmental Marketing Claims, 16
models, LEED calculations have been developed
CFR 260.7 (e), available at
to demonstrate how the 10 percent recycled-
www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427.htm.
content threshold can potentially be achieved (see
"Supporting Calculations" below).
(1 point)
Courthouse
In the Courthouse model, different calculations are
Cost Impact = 2, 3 or 4
used for the "low cost" and "high cost" scenarios.
In the low-cost options, the building's steel
1
2
3
4
5
structure is assumed to contain 90 percent
recycled-content steel, which represents over 5
GSA
No
Low
Moderate
High
percent recycled content for the building overall
Standard
premium,
premium
premium
premium
(see Credit MR-4.1). In addition to the structural
(no cost)
psble svgs
(<50K)
(50-150K)
(>150K)
steel, a number of other "no cost" recycled-content
materials are included, such as flyash in concrete,
Practical Applications
additional steel items (decking, reinforcing bar,
doors, studs, ceiling suspension grids, raised
As with Credit MR 4.1 (Recycled Content, 5
flooring, and toilet partitions), mineral fiber ceiling
percent), some GSA projects will attain this credit
tiles, fiberglass insulation, and wood particleboard
by simply incorporating recycled-content materials
and mdf. The 10 percent threshold is achieved with
identified in the EPA's Comprehensive
no cost premium.
GSA LEED COST STUDY
107
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