by Shane Henson — September 21, 2011—The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) next update to the LEED green building program, coined LEED 2012, will include updates to the Materials & Resources (MR) credit category, USGB officials say.
The Materials & Resources (MR) credit category, which addresses waste reduction while improving the environmental impact of materials selection and waste disposal, has been revised to include an increased focus on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). According to USGB officials, LCA is a powerful analytical technique used to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s life, from extraction, manufacture, use, reuse and disposal.
In addition to LCA, USGBC has added new MR credits that encourage project teams to specify materials that have been sourced responsibly as well as products screened to assess the impacts the product might have on human health on both a local and global level. For facilities owners and managers, construction managers, and architects and designers who are working with their respective companies to meet LEED requirements, this update could have a significant impact on the materials they choose.
To encourage increased transparency of information about products, a new credit rewards the use of materials for which Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have been made. This practice encourages product manufacturers to engage in disclosure activities that provide building product specifiers and procurement officials with consistent and complete information about their products.
