Materials and Resources PDF

Chapter 7 – Materials and Resources By GBES - A company of TÜV SÜD GBES - A company of TÜV SÜD Sustainable materials are materials that reduce demands on ecosystems during their life cycle. This includes the materials’ processing − such as harvesting and production − and the entire product life c...

Chapter 7 – Materials and Resources By GBES - A company of TÜV SÜD GBES - A company of TÜV SÜD Sustainable materials are materials that reduce demands on ecosystems during their life cycle. This includes the materials’ processing − such as harvesting and production − and the entire product life cycle through use and disposal. Conventional building construction and operation consumes large quantities of wood, water, metals, and energy from fossil fuels. Sustainable buildings impact the triple bottom line through the use of materials in these primary ways: Reducing waste Building with environmentally preferable materials Creating a sustainable purchasing program In this section, we will discuss the types of materials that should be considered for a high- performance building and how to reduce the life-cycle impacts of those materials. Remember that products and materials cannot be LEED certified − they can only help projects earn LEED points. In the IEQ section, we will look at how we want these products to avoid toxic or harmful emissions. Conservation of Materials and Waste Management Waste management provides a way to protect the environment and conserve resources for future generations through a systems approach that seeks to reduce materials use and their associated environmental impacts over their entire life cycles, starting with the extraction of natural resources and product design and ending with decisions on recycling or final disposal. Reducing waste is integral to improving the environment during the building process and after occupation. In this section, several strategies to reduce waste are described. Construction Waste Management In 1996, 136 million tons of construction & demolition (C&D) debris was generated – 57% by non-residential construction1. Most of this waste could have been recycled, reducing the demand for virgin materials. Waste reduction by recycling C&D debris can also turn a cost into a savings for builders. Instead of paying haulers to dispose of C&D debris from a job site, the materials can be sold to a recycling facility or given to a recycling facility in exchange for free hauling. More than 6,000 centers around the country run specialized programs for reusing building materials. These programs are run by groups such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity2 and include using unneeded school materials. Reducing waste that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills or incinerated can be done during construction and post-occupancy. A significant amount of waste is generated during the construction process. In the home building process, if a 7’6” board is needed and the carpenter has an 8’ board, the extra 6” goes to the dump. When materials arrive at a job site wrapped in cardboard and plastic, the cardboard and plastic are thrown into a big dumpster and sent to a landfill. There are tons and tons of construction, demolition, and land clearing debris (CDL) generated that have value: Brick Metal Wood Carpet Wallboard Glass Plastic Cardboard Lighting accessories Topsoil Fill dirt Rock For LEED, excavated soil and hazardous waste are not counted towards construction waste management calculations. Doing so skews the percentage of waste diverted since these materials can add significant weight/volume to the quantities. Recycling opportunities vary from region to region. Some cities have well-established recycling programs that make recycling easy. However, LEED buildings in Dubai, Alaska, Hawaii, and other places may not have a recycling infrastructure in place. Furthermore, the types of materials accepted vary by location, so be sure to find out what can and cannot be recycled before embarking on a CDL plan. Before construction begins, a construction waste management plan should be developed that identifies potential waste streams and where waste diversion can be implemented— salvage, reuse, and recycle. If the waste can be taken out of the building and reused elsewhere, it avoids disposal in landfills and incinerators. Be sure the plan is implemented, and the team tracks the waste through reports from the waste haulers to check that the waste management plan works. The next best option would be to send the waste back through a recycling program, which would be ground up and used in manufacturing to make new material. The better the plan and execution, the less material ends up in landfills. Contractors and waste haulers may accomplish this in a couple of ways. One option is having on-site separation where the site has a series of dumpsters. The general contractor is responsible for policing the subcontractors to get the various recyclable wastes into the right places. This option is better if the specialty contractors follow the rules and the dumpsters can be monitored. Comingled Recycling A common method is to send the waste in one container to a facility where it can be separated into different recyclable components. This process is called comingled recycling. Comingled recycling requires less space because only one container is needed. Additionally, people are more likely to recycle because throwing materials into one container is easier than sorting them out and placing them in the correct recycling bin. Research shows participation and recycling levels increase when sorting is not required. Commingled recycling is more efficient because collection trucks can hold more materials in a single load. Solid Waste Management Hierarchy Because no single waste management approach is suitable for managing all waste streams in all circumstances, the EPA developed a hierarchy ranking the most environmentally sound strategies for municipal solid waste. The hierarchy emphasizes reducing, reusing, and recycling the majority of waste. Source reduction is the practice of designing, manufacturing, purchasing, or using materials (such as products and packaging) to reduce the amount or toxicity of trash created. Reuse stops waste at its source by delaying or avoiding the item's entry into the waste collection and disposal system. Recycling converts materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Waste-to-energy converts non-recyclable waste materials into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through various processes, including combustion, gasification, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas (LFG) recovery. Source Reduction According to the EPA, source reduction has the greatest impact on reducing waste because it begins with product design. Source reduction ties into environmentally preferable purchasing. This means buying “products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose”.3 The comparison of these products applies to raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, use, reuse, operation, maintenance, and disposal.4 Environmentally preferable products are: Recyclable Energy efficient Low in embodied energy Low in toxic substances or have none Characterized by reduced packaging Water efficient Keep these goals in mind when purchasing furniture, fixtures, and equipment – including lamps, electronics, etc.- for the project. While LEED has no product certification to indicate which products are environmentally preferable, the discussion on sustainable materials in this section has requirements for the make-up of products that contribute to earning LEED credits Use Less Material A simple way to reduce material use is to design using less material in the first place. Make the project building or house smaller Make the neighborhood more compact Place the office building in a dense area Ensure projects have flexible space so new space doesn’t need to be added as activities change over time Projects can use more modern framing techniques that are as safe as older techniques, but they can space studs further apart or use structural insulated panels that include the framing and insulation in one piece. Of course, observe local codes first. Using less material can also apply to ongoing operations as well. We will discuss that in the next section Example: Allsteel Resource Center LEED Rating: LEED for Commercial Interiors Certified Location: Boston, Massachusetts Courtesy: HOK HOK designed a resource center for the office furniture company Allsteel in Boston. In addition to displaying products, the showroom serves as a meeting place for architects, designers, and real estate and facility management professionals. To conserve materials, a large portion of the showroom space has no suspended ceiling. Where ceilings are used, they have mostly been manufactured locally and are lighter (fewer raw materials) than standard acoustical tiles and drywall. Eliminating drop ceilings is one easy way to reduce materials. In retail or office areas, polishing, stamping, and staining the concrete eliminates the need for flooring materials and installation. Reuse − Buildings Adaptive reuse refers to reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than what was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a critical factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl. Adaptive reuse can also refer to the design of a new building with consideration to what it could be used for in the future. For example, in the design of an office building, could the walls be designed to accommodate apartments in 20 years more easily? Existing buildings make up 99% of the building stock. In dense urban areas, there may be plenty of opportunities to find a property that can be upgraded into a high-performance building. The costs of major renovation can be offset by reduced construction and materials costs of a new shell. The environment benefits by reducing the raw materials needed for a brand-new building. Cities such as New York City or Boston, where the downtown is already built out and old historic districts offer many opportunities to take advantage of existing buildings. Consider reusing: Envelopes Interior/exterior walls Ceilings Flooring Roofs Framing Example: SmithGroup LEED Rating: LEED for Commercial Interiors Registered Location: San Francisco, California Courtesy: SmithGroup SmithGroup's vision for a new office was to transform an 83-year-old San Francisco landmark building into a progressive, high-performance facility. The finished space serves as a showpiece for innovative design strategies, reflecting that sustainable design can be beautiful. A two-story interconnecting stair, which embodies the spirit of the office, allows visual connectivity between floors and encourages collaboration. Exposed original brick walls, steel beams, and concrete floors respect the building's historic past while creating an aesthetic ambiance setting the office design's tone. Reuse − Salvaged Materials Reused materials do not become waste, so they don’t end up in landfills. Reusing materials can also be considered a way of reducing waste; however, reused materials have their own strategies. Salvaged, refurbished, and reused materials can all contribute to reducing the demand for virgin materials. The Greener Building 2008 Impact Report stated, “We evaluated the environmental impacts of materials reuse in terms of savings in embodied energy, concluding that materials reuse in LEED buildings has saved the equivalent of 70,000 barrels of oil, a number that will grow to nearly 800,000 barrels equivalent by 2020.” Potential ideas for using salvaged materials include: Salvaged brick used for walkways Salvaged wood for flooring, cabinets, desks, design features, etc. Salvaged tiles Salvaged doors Some people confuse reused materials with recycled materials. One way to think about reused materials is to ask, ‘Is the material being used similarly to how it was used in its original life?’ For example, if timber from an old timber-framed building is being used for framing or bricks are being reused again as bricks, this is salvaged or refurbished material. Adaptive reuse of materials changes their future use from their past use. Think about how the material was used in its original form vs. the new form. LEED does not encourage the reuse of windows or window glazing because older exterior windows and glazing are energy inefficient. Older plumbing fixtures should also not be reused because they have higher water demands. Example: Office Furniture Embodied energy is a term that describes all the energy it takes to create a product. An example is office furniture made from refurbished products; this can cut costs and help the environment. New cubicles, desks, etc, consume a lot of energy for production and can use many raw materials. Reusing existing office furniture eliminates these concerns while extending its lifespan and diverting it from the waste stream. Office furniture, especially cubicles and partitions, generally don’t have a lot of wear and tear and, once refurbished, can look new. Buying used or refurbished office furniture has a lower environmental impact and can save costs. The energy savings from remanufacturing one office workstation (five panels) could power 10 average American households for one whole day.5 On a project for Fleet Bank, the recycling and reuse of Fleet's existing assets resulted in a savings of over $500,000 for the furniture portion of the project.6 The act of recycling is different than using recycled materials in construction. We discuss this later in this section. Waste-to-Energy Waste-to-energy converts non-recyclable waste materials into useable heat, electricity, or fuel through various processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolization, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas (LFG) recovery. Energy recovery from waste is part of the non-hazardous waste management hierarchy. Converting non-recyclable waste materials into electricity and heat generates a renewable energy source. It reduces carbon emissions by offsetting the need for energy from fossil sources and reducing methane generation from landfills. Renewable energy sources such as wind, biomass, and solar can supplement coal and oil to produce energy. The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with the combustion of plant or animal-based products (paper and forest products, yard trimmings, food discards) are considered to close the loop in the natural carbon cycle. Regions of the world where populations are dense and land is limited (e.g. many European countries, Japan), have greater adoption of combustion with energy recovery due to space constraints. Combustion facilities operate in conjunction with air emission standards. Maintain Occupancy Rates If you haven’t had any experience with leasing companies that deal with office space, here is a typical example: A new tenant comes in looking for a certain amount of space. The space typically doesn’t have walls or offices installed in a new building, because the tenant decides where the offices and walls will go. If the tenant leases 5,000 square feet, he/she might ask for six offices, two conference rooms, a kitchen, etc. A contractor builds out that space according to the tenant’s specifications. If the space has been previously leased out, the new tenant may ask for walls to be torn down, new walls to be put up, and any number of things to be re-arranged. All of these changes are negotiated as part of the lease agreement. If a building tenant moves to a new location every five years, a new space will most likely have to be built out in the new location, and the tenant who moves into the old space will probably want changes to the floor plan layout as well. Moving and updating the interior spaces consumes materials and energy. Tenants who stay in one location for a long time cause less energy to be expended on building changes. Suppose a tenant commits to a 10-year lease instead of a five-year one, or the property manager can provide a great building experience so tenants stay there. In that case, the property owner will reduce all issues related to space changes by half. Construction debris, indoor air quality, inconvenience for existing tenants, increased energy costs, etc., will be significantly reduced. Encouraging occupants to maintain their leases longer is another way to impact the triple bottom line. Sustainable Design Sustainable designs should prioritize materials that reduce environmental impacts over their life cycle. We will cover several different product attributes that LEED uses to define a sustainable material. In the LEED rating system, specific products do not contribute to earning project points—it is the product's sustainable attributes that LEED considers. For example, consider a project being built in Boston. ABC Company obtains glass from the Boston recycling plant and turns the glass into countertops, which consist of 75% recycled content. The entire countertop is not necessarily a sustainable product, but the 75% recycled content contributes to the recycled materials LEED encourages projects to use. Products with ISO 14000 environmental labels are intended to encourage the demand for and supply of products that cause less environmental stress. Materials found in the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Divisions 3-10 are counted in the materials’ credits for LEED. In LEED, furniture for the project can be counted if the furniture is included in all of the Materials and Resources credits. Life Cycle Assessment / Life Cycle Costing Life cycle assessment (LCA) measures a product’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle, beginning with extraction through manufacturing, shipping, use, reuse, or end of life. The goal of LCA is to compare the full range of environmental and social damages assignable to products and services and to be able to choose the least burdensome ones. Some companies offer software programs or websites where materials or services can be evaluated according to their life cycle analysis, thereby comparing their environmental impact. Additionally, it would be valuable to perform life-cycle costing (LCC) while performing a life- cycle assessment. LCC determines the cost of a product or system over its lifetime, including payback periods, operational and maintenance costs, replacement, cost savings, etc. This can help teams choose LEED strategies. For example, vegetated roof systems require much less maintenance and have a longer life than traditional roofs. The LCC will show the cost advantages of choosing a green roof. Here are other costs that are typically the subject of a LCC review: Initial, acquisition, and construction Fuel Operation, maintenance, and repair Disposal Finance Intangible benefits or costs7 (such as community interaction, charity work) Cradle to Cradle A cradle-to-grave product accepts disposal as part of a product’s life cycle. Cradle-to- cradle products are environmentally preferred. Through the cradle-to-cradle cycle, the materials are perpetually circulated in closed loops – essentially a waste-free product. Both the product and any byproducts have value. Maintaining materials in these closed loops maximizes their value without damaging the environment. The cradle-to-cradle design considers opportunities for the reuse of the product. This principle is also known as ‘waste is food.’ If products are designed according to C2C design principles, they can be manufactured and sold for less than alternative designs. They eliminate the need for waste disposal, such as landfills. One Cradle-to-Cradle certified product is the Herman Miller Aeron Chair. The chair met C2C standards for material choice, recyclability, and disassembly. 94% of the materials in the chair are recyclable. Product Transparency Environmentally preferable materials provide disclosure to buyers. Disclosure is knowledge-seeking and means transparency of product supply chains, ingredients, and life-cycle impacts. What does transparency mean? Well, if you look at the side of a cereal box or ketchup bottle, you can see its ingredients. Do you want the ketchup with high-fructose corn syrup, real sugar, or just tomatoes and salt? You get to read the label and decide. Transparency in materials is giving you the information so you can decide. It doesn’t say what’s better for you – the high fructose corn syrup, the real sugar, or neither. It just tells you so you can pick. Disclosure also helps verify claims from labels, such as recycled content, BPA-free, zero- VOC, etc. Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Fundamental is the idea of life-cycle assessment—looking at the entire lifecycle of a product or material and trying to quantify that material across a wide range of indicators: energy, water, raw materials, and pollution. Transparency comes from publishing an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), which is a standardized way of quantifying a product or system's environmental impact. An EPD typically includes information about a product’s impact on global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution, ozone creation, and greenhouse gas emissions. An EPD can also include other impacts of particular interest to the discloser, such as human toxicity risk and corporate social responsibility. The International Standards Organization (ISO) standards are used for EPDs in LEED. An EPD doesn’t make a product good or bad. An EPD just states ‘Here’s what the effects of this product are on the environment and people’. As listed on the EPD, a product may perform better in some environmental categories than others. The EPD helps project teams compare products to choose those that do less harm. EPDs act as neither product ratings nor eco-labels; they help architects, designers, specifiers, and other purchasers better understand a product’s sustainable qualities and environmental repercussions. As such, EPDs equip manufacturers with a valuable tool for differentiation and empower customers to make more informed purchasing decisions. Corporate Disclosure Corporate sustainability reports (CSRs) help identify products/manufacturers that have been verified to be extracted or sourced responsibly. Material Ingredient Disclosure Health Product Declarations (HPDs) fully disclose potential chemicals of concern in products by comparing product ingredients to a wide variety of “hazard” lists published by government authorities and scientific associations. The HPD does not indicate if a product is healthy—it merely reports on the ingredients. Armed with this information, project teams can compare the materials in different products and see if any of them contain unhealthy materials or in what quantities. EPD vs. HPD What is the difference between an EPD and an HPD? HPD is a format for reporting product contents and health information about products and materials. EPDs include information not in HPDs, such as the environmental impact of raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, air, soil, and water emissions, and waste generation. Locally Produced Materials Some European companies build prefabricated homes that are energy efficient, well insulated, and can be delivered in pieces for assembly. However, having the house built in Europe, shipped in pieces to a U.S. port, and then transported to Ohio consumes a lot of energy. Regionally harvested, processed, and manufactured products reduce transportation costs by avoiding overseas shipping costs, long rail transport costs, or long-distance trucking costs. Reducing transportation costs also reduces the energy needed for that transportation. Besides reducing shipping and delivery costs, buying locally helps local businesses. LEED gives credit when certain percentages of materials are extracted and manufactured within a radius of the project site. Example: Wood extracted in Canada and then shipped to North Carolina to create cabinets for a project in North Carolina would not count. The wood would have needed to be extracted closer to North Carolina. Example: A chair is made from different types of wood. Some of the wood was extracted from 50 miles away, and some from 750 miles away. Only the portion of the wood in the chair that was extracted from 50 miles away would count as a locally harvested and manufactured material, assuming the chair was manufactured within the radius of the project site. Courtesy of Armstrong Ceiling Certified Wood According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, half of the world’s forests have already been altered, degraded, destroyed, or converted into other land uses8. Much of the remaining forests today suffer from illegal exploitation or poor management. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), established in 1933 in response to these concerns over global deforestation, is an international non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC’s mission is to “promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests.” LEED projects using wood certified by FSC can earn points in the Materials and Resources category. FSC-certified wood looks like other wood and comes with a Chain of Custody (CoC) certification. FSC-certified wood can range from structural and dimensional framing, sub-flooring, doors, and finishes. Project teams must get CoC documentation to demonstrate that the wood has been harvested through a FSC-certified source. Once a forest is certified, it is important to trace the products that come from it throughout the supply chain to ensure that any claims concerning the product's origin are credible and verifiable. FSC Chain of Custody is a tracking system that allows manufacturers and traders to demonstrate that timber comes from a responsibly managed forest per FSC principles. CoC tracks the flow of certified wood through the supply chain and across borders through each successive stage − including processing, transformation, and manufacturing − to the final product. Recycled Materials Each year in the United States, industries produce over half a billion tons of residuals that could be used for construction.9 These products come from coal combustion, construction and demolition, spent foundry sand, and used tires. Recycled materials have the environmental benefit of reducing the need for virgin materials. They are also diverted from landfills. Environmental Benefits Since many industrial materials replace non-renewable virgin materials that must be mined and processed, industrial recycled materials conserve natural resources and reduce energy use and pollution associated with these activities. For example, substituting coal fly ash for Portland cement in concrete saves energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing cement. The beneficial use of industrial materials results in less material being sent to disposal facilities, which saves landfill space and further reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. Economic Benefits Industrial materials are often less expensive than virgin materials, making good economic sense for builders and project owners. Furthermore, reusing or recycling construction and demolition (C&D) materials on-site can reduce material hauling and disposal costs. These savings, applied to the total project cost, make doing more work with the same budget possible. In addition, C&D recyclers will often charge less to accept recyclable materials that have already been separated from non-recyclable materials –a practice that can be encouraged at the building site by using separate containers for various materials. Types of Recycled Materials There are several types of recycled materials for LEED. Pre-consumer material is material from industry scraps diverted from the waste stream and used for other purposes. Examples include sawdust, wood shavings, wood chips, and print overruns. Excluded are materials re-incorporated into the same manufacturing process that generated it.10 An example of what would not qualify is scraps of metal saved from a cutting process that are melted down and returned to the same manufacturing process. When the material is incorporated into a new product it is called pre-consumer content – the percentage of recycled material in the new product. An example is a newspaper made with 25% pre-consumer content. Post-consumer material is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream, where the waste-producing use does not involve the production of another product. Examples include construction and demolition debris, yard waste, and materials from curbside recycling programs (aluminum cans, newspapers, plastic bottles, milk jugs).11 The percentage indicates the percentage of post-consumer material included in the product. For example – a plastic bottle with 50% post-consumer content. Post-consumer fiber is fibrous waste from municipal waste streams, such as paper or paperboard. Another term for fiber is recovered fiber, which includes both pre- and post- consumer fiber. Recycled materials are defined by ISO 14021. Example Materials Pre-consumer materials Post-consumer materials Sawdust Aluminum cans Wood chips Water bottles Tree bark Newspapers Magazine overruns Construction debris Fly-ash Example: USGBC Headquarters LEED Rating: LEED for Commercial Interiors Platinum Location: Washington, D.C. Courtesy: 3form USA Any building built for the United States Green Building Council needs to be LEED Platinum certified. To achieve the maximum number of LEED credits, all new materials must meet green criteria − contain recycled material − and communicate an overall commitment to sustainability. The objective for one of the meeting rooms was to carve out an elliptical meeting space using recycled or reclaimed material for a responsibly green corporate model. Some of the features of the meeting room were: Reclaimed wood beams Recycled stainless steel 3Form’s high-design/low-impact resin panels made of recycled material Steel Steel is the country’s most widely recycled material. Due to the large quantities of scrap incorporated into the steel-making process, LEED allows project teams to assume steel contains at least 25% recycled content. If a project team wants to use a value greater than that, documentation of the actual recycled content would be needed. Supplemental Cementitious Materials Supplemental cementitious materials (SCMs) are another recycled material you will hear about frequently. Fly ash is a common type of this material. When coal is used in a power plant, it is first ground into a very fine powder and blown into its boiler. Carbon and hydrogen in the coal are consumed, leaving non-combustible molten particles rich in silica, alumina, and calcium. These particles solidify as fly ash − microscopic, glassy spheres collected from the power plant before escaping into the environment. This recovered resource can replace a portion of cement in concrete or added to mortars, stuccos, and other building materials. A ton of fly ash can replace a ton of cement in making concrete. Using a ton of fly ash instead of cement reduces carbon dioxide production by a ton. If all of the fly ash generated in the United States each year were used to replace cement in producing concrete, the reduction in carbon dioxide released because of decreased cement production would be equivalent to eliminating 25 percent of the world’s motor vehicles.12 Example: Technology Enterprise Facility III LEED Rating: LEED for New Construction Silver Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Courtesy: Read Jones Christoffersen The Technology Enterprise Facility is a sustainable six-story research building at the University of British Columbia. RJC acted as both the building science and structural engineer for the project. An integrated design team, collaborating from the early stages, produced a uniform structural system comprising concrete slabs and discontinuous shallow wide beams with higher live loads, allowing flexibility. The building wall consists of masonry veneer, curtainwall, metal panels, and a conventional roof assembly. RJC chose to "green" the concrete by using high-volume fly ash to reduce cement content and thereby minimize the environmental impact of construction. RJC's EcoSmart-funded report on the use of high-volume fly ash on this building has attracted delegates worldwide to study the Canadian use of high-volume fly ash concrete. Fly ash was used as a partial replacement, resulting in no additional cost or impact on the schedule. Durable Goods Durable goods are not specifically defined or addressed by LEED, but ultimately, using more durable materials will reduce future demand. If a particular carpet lasts longer, it means the building owner will not have to tear it out and replace it frequently. A durable goods waste stream includes those durable goods that have fully depreciated and can’t be used in normal business anymore. When buying durable goods, don’t forget about what to do with them once their useful life is over. This is the cradle-to-cradle mentality discussed earlier. Sustainable Purchasing Besides the materials needed for building construction, many items will need to be purchased during the ongoing operation of a building. A sustainable materials purchasing program prioritizes products and services that have a lesser or reduced impact on the environment compared to similar competing products. The program should address ongoing consumables, like office paper and printer cartridges, and durable goods, like computers and furniture. Consider the following products: Low Elemental Mercury Light Bulbs Mercury is present in many of today’s low-energy light bulbs, such as compound fluorescent bulbs. Mercury is toxic, and the light bulbs must be properly disposed of and cannot be disposed of in the regular waste disposal process. If bulbs break at the project site, the area will have to be carefully cleaned. To reduce this risk, purchase bulbs with very little or no mercury. Despite mercury, CFL bulbs still help the environment. Certified Products Purchasing for businesses or families gives opportunities to implement sustainable purchasing. Many third-party certifications can help identify sustainable products. Fairtrade-labeled products include fruit, coffee, flowers, wine, tea, and sugar. Food Alliance certifies farms, ranches, and food handlers for sustainable agricultural and business practices. Marine Stewardship Council Blue Eco-Label certifies sustainable fishing. USDA Organic regulates the standards for any farm, wild crop harvesting, or handling operation that wants to sell an agricultural product as organically produced. Protected Harvest certifies farmers' use of stringent environmental growing standards. Rainforest Alliance Certification promotes and guarantees improvements in agriculture and forestry. Be careful that green products are actually good for the environment and meet the claims producers make about the products. Greenwashing occurs when products are made to seem better for the environment than is true. Waste Management Once a project is complete, the responsibility of waste management and proper use of materials and resources does not end. Projects should have a solid waste management policy that identifies a goal diversion rate and covers strategies to reduce the waste leaving the project. Some strategies are covered below. Recycling LEED requires projects to have in place a recycling program for materials used around the building. Soda cans, water bottles, paper, cardboard, etc., are everyday items that can be recycled. One of the prerequisites of LEED is recycling. At a minimum, a LEED project must recycle: paper corrugated cardboard glass plastics metals Similar to the construction process, the development of the recycling process and identifying which materials can be recycled is determined by the local recycling programs available. Most urban areas have well-established recycling programs. Since recycling is a LEED requirement, the team must figure out how best to implement the program. Also similar to construction waste management, recycling can be comingled (all in one container), or multiple containers can be provided for each type of recycled material. Hazardous materials such as batteries, mercury lamps, and food waste may not be included in a comingled container. If space is an issue in the building, can-crushers and cardboard bailers can reduce the volume of recycled materials. Recycling can also cover durable goods such as furniture, electronics, and appliances. If an office or other project is about to renovate and replace durable goods, work to find a recycler or donor who would take and recycle or reuse these durable goods. Charity organizations can help find users for appliances and used furniture. There are many recyclers of electronics that may even pay to recycle computers and other electronic items. Suppose a project is about to undertake a recycling program for durable goods. In that case, it might be good to notify the community or other nearby projects so they can also participate. The more participation, the more durable goods that are recycled. Compost Some projects may benefit from doing composting either on-site or off-site. School or office cafeterias may create a lot of compostable waste. Sites with grass or trees can compost dead grass and leaves as well. If done on-site, compost can be turned into mulch. Off-site composting may be even easier. Many cities take lawn waste to turn into mulch, which the town then sells back to the community. Oil recyclers can take used restaurant oil to repurpose for other products. Waste Stream Audit We’ve discussed setting goals and measuring the results multiple times. A waste stream audit in an existing building can be a measure and verification of the company’s recycling program. A waste stream audit is simple but might not be for the squeamish. All waste from the project must be checked and categorized. The team can decide on how many categories, but they should include recyclable, compostable, and true waste. No matter the number of categories, in the end, the waste accounted for should equal 100%. This should be done occasionally to check and ensure that items are being recycled and that any waste education in the project is being followed by occupants. Both the recycling program and the sustainable purchasing program should be monitored for compliance in a building's ongoing operation. Case Study: Dockside Green Use of Local Products (Regional Materials) Local products will be used on-site for construction activities, site utilities, and demonstration projects and made available for purchase on-site. Showcasing local products will increase exposure for local businesses and establish Dockside Green as an excellent development resource—a great example of what can be done with locally produced, ecologically responsible products. What's more, the decision to use locally produced goods benefits local businesses and reduces CO2 emissions from transport. Environmentally Preferable Materials Dockside Green is committed to utilizing recycled content, sustainably harvested materials, and rapidly renewable resources while minimizing construction and household waste. Carpets are carefully selected based on low emissions and environmental qualities. The project will use more expensive carpet tiles for corridors in the residential buildings, which will reduce long-term maintenance and waste for condo owners. In addition, tiles are purchased from Interface Global, a sustainable business leader utilizing their "Cool Carpet™" program, which means their products are greenhouse gas neutral. Bamboo flooring and cabinets will be used in the development, with upgrade options for other environmentally friendly products, such as cork flooring. The project will also use salvaged wood products to promote sustainable harvesting practices. Replacing cement content with fly ash will reduce CO2 emissions for the development by 35 to 40 percent. The wood-frame townhomes use Triton Wood. Triton harvests standing forests flooded by hydro reservoirs. With 45,000 major dam reservoirs around the world and an estimated 300 million trees, submerged forests represent a significant source of non-living timber that can be used for a wide variety of industrial and consumer applications. Buildings will include recycling rooms for organic waste, with the collection being undertaken by a local organization. This composting program will make garbage disposals unnecessary, saving the water and energy otherwise required to operate them. The project aims to recycle or reuse 90% of construction waste on site and will report on actual results when construction is completed.