Article Number : 3787 |
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| Date | 10/28/2008 9:33:03 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=3787 |
| Abstract | BY MICHAEL BLASEK National manager, sustainable business, LG Floors It is of growing concern that many people don’t have a clear understanding of recycled content as defined by the USGBC’s LEED rating system. This leads to products being specified and places certification status in jeopardy... |
| Article | BY MICHAEL BLASEK National manager, sustainable business, LG Floors It is of growing concern that many people don’t have a clear understanding of recycled content as defined by the USGBC’s LEED rating system. This leads to products being specified and places certification status in jeopardy. Why? In theory, all claims need to be proven and documented. The LEED rating system is a product of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Today, the most widely recognized rating system is LEED for New Construction (NC). However, USGBC didn’t rewrite the book on green building. Much of the rating system gathers and references strategies and/or best practice building methods in each environmental category. These references are the standards in which USGBC developed and put into a scoring system to determine whether the building has reached a particular rating. LEED places recycled content under one of two headings: pre-consumer or post-consumer. (Pre-consumer was formally referred to as post-industrial and in some circles is a term still used today.) To define pre- and post-consumer content, LEED references the International Organization for Standards (ISO) 14021 – Environmental labels and declaration (type II environmental labeling). Post-consumer material is waste material generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end users of the product that can no longer be used for its intended purpose (ISO 14021). These types of reclamation systems are usually not easy to come by, which makes post-consumer more valuable in the LEED rating system. Pre-consumer is defined as “material diverted from the waste stream during the manufacturing process.” This is mostly what manufacturers claim to have. While it is an abundant resource, many manufactures don’t understand that taking rework, regrind or scrap from the same process is not considered pre-consumer. In other words, using the scrap from your own manufacturing process is like turning the lights off before leaving the house. Finding a byproduct from another manufacturing process that would normally get tossed and then utilizing it in a product is considered true pre-consumer recycled content. Since pre-consumer is usually in one place and in great quantity, the LEED rating system adjusts its weight by dividing it in half (a product containing 50% pre-consumer recycled content, is only counted as 25% in LEED). Here is a list of questions to ask manufacturers: • Pre-consumer or post-consumer? • What is the recycled material and where does it come from? • Is there regrind, scrap or rework in the material and, if so, is it from the same manufacturing process? • Is there a steady stream of recycled content? How much and where does it come from? • How can the information be verified? |