EQ 4.4 Low-Emitting Materials

INTENT: Reduce indoor air contaminants that are odorous, irritating and/or harmful to the comfort and well-being of installers and occupants.

REQUIREMENTS: Composite wood and agrifiber products used on the interior of the building (defined as inside the weather proofing system) shall contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins. Laminate adhesives used to fabricate on-site and shop-applied composite wood and agrifiber assemblies shall contain no added urea-formaldehyde (NAUF) resins.

Composite wood and agrifiber products are defined as: particle-board, medium density fiberboard (MDF), plywood, wheat board, strawboard, panel substrates and door cores. Materials considered fixtures, furniture, and equipment (FF&E) are not considered base building elements and are not included.

POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES & STRATEGIES: Specify wood and agrifiber products that contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins. Specify laminating adhesives for field and shop applied assemblies that contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins. Review product cut sheets, MSDS sheets, signed attestations or other official literature from the manufacturer.

Please don’t hesitate to ask for help. My contact information is as follows:

Kay Stoebe, LEED AP
Tel 612.308.2562
Email kaystoebe@metrohardwoods.com

Clarification of LEED MR 7 - Certified Wood

We are still awaiting any new announcement regarding MR 7 in LEED 2009; which may have inclusions for certification programs other than FSC. Beyond it, I did want to clear up some information that is often miss-understood about MR 7 and may be helpful to you.

First, as MR 7 is written today, it is critical to note that the requirements for LEED MR 7 Certified Wood differ from the rules of selling FSC certified products. In LEED, the bottom line is the manufacture/fabricator, selling the sub-contractor/contractor, needs to have FSC Chain-of-Custody (COC).  Also, it is important to note the contribution value is significantly different, depending on the COC used in each case. Ultimately, the Chain-of-Custody vendor invoice, determines the cost that contributes to the project. 

NOTE: Methods for calculations in MR 7 vary depending on a variety of factors related to the project, as well as COC. 
Chain-of-Custody requirements in LEED MR 7 are as follows.  If the:

1. Manufacture is FSC Certified – whether installing or not; the full cost of Product/fixtures delivered to the job site is submitted to the contractor; excluding installation labor.

2. Manufacture is not FSC Certified – FIRST fabricator MUST be the installer to contribute any value of the FSC materials for MR 7. If installing, they are considered the subcontractor.  The supplier/vendor of FSC materials to the subcontractor becomes the Vendor. The Vendors invoice – distributor invoice to installing fabricator -- would be used, (fabricator/installer – cost) for submittal documents. 
   
   
3. Manufacture is not FSC and not the installer – no contribution of FSC to LEED projects – even if FSC materials are purchased.
   
   In example three, no value would be contributed to MR7 because the vendor selling the subcontractor is not FSC COC.

The LEED NC 2.2 Reference Guide on page 283, clearly states: “A manufacturer that installs its own product (e.g. custom cabinetry) is not required to have COC certification.” However, as noted above the value contributed in this case, is significantly less, than a company with FSC COC.

NOTE: It is also important to understand the above is only explaining the rules for Chain-of-Custody in LEED MR 7. Once this is determined, you need to understand FSC rules vs. LEED, as it relates to qualifying FSC components or inputs.  This gets more complicated and is best learned by example.  For your next LEED project, please contact me and I will be happy to help you understand the proper information for your submittal documents. 

Materials and Resources
MR 7 – Certified Wood
INTENT: Encourage environmentally responsible forest management.

• REQUIREMENTS: Use a minimum of 50% of wood-based materials and products, which are certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) Principles and Criteria, for wood building components. These components include, but are not limited to, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, sub-flooring, wood doors and finishes.
  
  Only include material permanently installed in the project. Furniture may be included, providing it is included consistently in MR Credits 3-7.
  
  
• POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES & STRATEGIES: Establish a project goal for FSC certified wood products and identify suppliers that can achieve this goal. During construction, ensure that the FSC certified wood products are installed and quantify the total percentage of FSC certified wood products installed.