Lost in Credits

I find it interesting to listen to manufacturers representatives talk about LEED and how many points their products can bring a project. We had a presentation this week that included a powerpoint slide that said that a chair would give the project 4.5 points. Now, it was not hard to figure out that perhaps it meant that the chair could contribute to credit 4.5 but that is definitely not what was written in the powerpoint or spoken by the rep. When I challenged the rep about the content, I was told that this was the information they sent from the factory and that was that. Hmm. How misleading and misguided.

Products do not bring credits or points to a project.

Products can help to contribute to points but it is not really the product itself, it is the content or the performance of the product that figures into the overall intention. It seems that the easy way out is to make sure you say your company has green products, say the product can give you points and then hope that no one asks you any more questions. The sad part of that is at least twofold. One, whatever happened to learning something new? What harm is there in learning what LEED is and how it works conceptually? Secondly, when we are part of a project team moving through the LEED process, we need a boatload of technical support, quickly. The information is getting more accessible but it is still tough to get everything you need. Some brands actually have their product information spelled out really well where others are just starting to realize that LEED is not going away and they have to jump on board.

There are no points for "cradle to cradle".

There are no points for a Greenguard product - there is a point in LEED- CI (EQ 4.5) that requires "all systems furniture and seating introduced into the project space that has been manufactured, refurbished or refinished within one year prior to occupancy must meet one of the requirements below - Option A - Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified, Option B - calculation of indoor air concentrations....
Systems furniture is defined as panel based or desking based products, Seating is defined as task and guest chairs used with systems furniture. All other furniture is excluded from the point.

There are no points for recycled content in furniture - there is a point in LEED-CI (MR4.1) that requires use of recycled content within products that constitutes at least 10% of the total value of the materials in the project. This is a calculation that is taken using all materials, including division 12 ( furniture and furnishings), on the project. You cannot just relate one chair that has recycled post-consumer content to this point, it is a compilation of many ingredients.

It just seems trendy to talk about how many points you can get using certain things and that could not be farther from the truth.