LEED - CI and furniture

Welcome to the Green Goddess - demystifying green in furniture.

Contract Interiors has completed several projects in the San Diego marketplace that are LEED rated or have pursued LEED - Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design. In the LEED-CI program specifically, there are several credits that pertain to furniture however, it is not always crystal clear which ones are applicable to the different solutions available. I know that there are many, many designers, manufacturers, furniture dealerships, project managers and LEED consultants that have experience with the process of LEED and I am hoping that this blog will be a place / forum to discuss what options are available, what credits are relevant and how do you work with the process to obtain the credits.

As a quick example, we recently received an RFP for a project stating an interest in LEED but not pursuing a LEED certification. The user wanted a value priced product solution and they wanted to weigh the cost of green to the cost of non-green. The first thought the project team had was to look at products that were GreenGuard Certified to meet the credit 4.5 EQ for indoor air quality. This is potentially one of the most expensive ways to get a credit. The flip side of this is to use re-manufactured products to meet credit 2.3 MR for resource reuse. The price spread between to the 2 options was substantial. Adding into this puzzle was a play using local manufacturers, within 500 mile radius of San Diego, for credits 5.1MR and 5.2MR regional materials. When we collected all of the information, we were challenged with "how" to convey the information. It seems that the information available to all of us is fragmented and the very synergy that makes LEED an incredible process also makes it tough to say - buy this and get this or pick this and you get this - it just is not that black and white.

Post your experiences and questions - I'd love a chance to see what you know or want to learn.

The Green Goddess