Think Local

LEED - CI and LEED - NC both have credits for buying locally manufactured products. The idea behind these credits is to support your local economy, which has long term sustainable aspects, and also saves energy ( fuel ) by not shipping materials and goods from all over the globe. Interestingly, LEED-School does not have this credit available and I am not sure why. Research to follow.

When we did a search for manufacturers within a 500 mile radius of San Diego, we came up with 35 or so. It is a little tricky because the credit is for manufacturing, not distribution so when you look up manufacturers, you have to make sure they are actually making the product, not just storing it. For instance, AVA Furniture shows up as 467 miles away from SD however, that is just their corporate headquarters and distribution center. The product is all manufactured in China. This would not qualify for the credit in either LEED program.

The list of local manufacturers - based on our location in San Diego - is posted here for your convenience. I encourage you to submit more and different ones that we don't know about - we are always looking for options and by no means think that this list is all conclusive. Additionally, some research is still necessary to make sure that the products being marketed by these manufacturers are actually produced here and not just imported and sold under the company name. That is a bit more tricky as the information is not readily available. Lots of times manufacturers OEM their products ( in a nutshell, they have a outside equipment manufacturers produce the product for them and they sell it under their name ). Kind of like groceries - Trader Joe's has all sorts of yummy items produced under their label but the actual product comes from a plant that is not Trader Joe's. In the furniture world, all sorts of OEM arrangements are going on.

The LEED credit for using products produced within a 500 mile radius applies to the whole project, not just the furniture purchase. Therefore, it is important to know the details of the credit and how furniture relates or does not relate to the overall scope of work.