Movable Walls - where are they in LEED?

Movable walls, relocatable walls, demountable walls and modular walls are all products that allow tenants, building owners, developers and builders to reduce construction waste while providing for future change. In a nutshell, they are manufactured in a controlled factory setting and shipped to job sites completely finished and ready for a "tilt up" interior construction. After they are installed, they allow changes to happen very easily with minimum waste. At Contract Interiors San Diego, we are often asked about how many points our movable wall products will provide the LEED project. First and foremost, I talk about the fact that LEED points are not obtainable by buying a specific product. There is a whole conversation to be had about what LEED is and and how it works but suffice it to say, there is no point available for specifying or buying movable walls.

The strategy of change and how an interior build out functions in the future, morphing to the changing needs of the owner, are not captured in the LEED rating system. For instance, you are a tenant and you decide to purchase relocatable walls because you want to be able to add and subtract offices and conference rooms in the future without tearing out drywall and having lots of downtime. Using movable walls allows for these changes to happen quickly and without any landfill waste. Seems green and sustainable. However, even though the product inherently is a "green" product, this strategy of being smarter and thinking long term vs. short term is not awarded by the LEED system with a credit. I hear rumblings that the USGBC is considering this point but I have not seen anything formal.

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

Social Responsibility at Contract Interiors

At Contract Interiors we understand our organization has a responsibility to our customers, employees, community, and to our environment. We encourage employees to volunteer and serve our community and have written this into our mission statement. Currently we are involved with a variety of local and national organizations; including Childhood Diabetes, Family Literacy, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Animal Rescue, and homeless shelters. We are members of the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Interior Design Association, and serve on various boards.