LEED® & LEED-CI primer
LEED CI points Baltix Sustainable Furniture can support depending on project design, location and options chosen:
Materials and resources:
recycled content: MR credit 4.1 and 4.2
regional materials: MR credit 5.1 and 5.2
rapidly renewable materials: MR credit 6
certified wood: MR credit 7
Indoor environmental quality:
low-emitting materials: EQ credit 4.5
daylight and views: EQ credit 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3
Innovation in design:
project specific: ID credit 1
LEED Q&A
Version 1.3
Q: What are LEED and LEED-CI?
A: A rating/certification system developed and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Baltix has been an active member of USGBC since 2002. LEED is an acronym for “Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design”. The LEED program is known as the “Green Building Rating System” and is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing and recognizing high-performance, sustainable buildings. The primary LEED certification program is LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC), which focuses on new buildings or major renovations and is currently at revision 2.2. Members of the USGBC representing all segments of the building industry developed LEED and continue to contribute to its evolution. LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) is a rating system that addresses the specifics of tenant spaces primarily in office and institutional buildings and is currently at revision 2.0. LEED-CI provides the opportunity for building tenants to design and certify high performance, healthy, durable, affordable, and environmentally sound workplaces. More information on these programs is available at the USGBC website at the following link: http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEED_main.asp
Q: What are some of the areas LEED programs address?
A: Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere efficiency, materials & resource selection, and indoor environmental quality.
Q: What is the difference between LEED-NC and LEED-CI?
A: LEED-NC and LEED-CI use many of the same criteria for establishing ratings points, but LEED-NC focuses on new buildings and major renovations as many of the points involve topics such as site selection and construction waste. LEED-CI addresses the specifics of tenant occupied spaces primarily in office and institutional buildings. If you hear a project is “LEED certified”, it is most likely LEED-NC rather than LEED-CI certified. LEED-NC has been in place since 2000, while LEED-CI was released in November of 2004.
Q: Are there other LEED programs?
A: LEED-EB (Existing Buildings) was released in October 2004 and focuses on recognizing and certifying the sustainability of on-going operations and maintenance of a building. LEED-CS (Core & Shell), which focuses on building shells constructed for later occupation was released in July 2006; this program complements LEED-CI. LEED for Schools was released on April 2007 and the residential-oriented LEED-H (Homes) was released in January 2008. LEED-ND (Neighborhood Developments), LEED for Retail and LEED for Healthcare are in the pilot stages and scheduled for release in 2009.
Q: How does LEED-NC & LEED-CI impact Baltix?
A: Baltix products can support several areas of the LEED requirements. Specific LEED requirements that Baltix may support are recycled content, regional materials (depending on project location), rapidly renewable materials, certified wood, low-emitting materials, daylight and views, and innovation in design. All LEED points are based on the total project scope, so the actual point contribution of Baltix Furniture to a project will vary on case-by-case basis. Baltix has LEED certified professionals on staff to assist in evaluating specific project contributions, but this will ultimately be the responsibility of each project’s LEED coordinator.
Q: How can I use LEED to market Baltix?
A: Our products will support points for LEED certification, since many of the requirements are readily met by Baltix furniture. The question of what degree Baltix can assist in meeting LEED will always be based on case-by-case evaluation of each specific project and the design and planning of the furniture. Baltix can potentially support over one third of the points required to meet LEED-CI certification, which would be substantial for any Commercial Interior project pursuing certification.
Q: Which specific points can Baltix support?
A: The following table shows the number of LEED-CI points (of 57 total possible) required for various levels of certification:
LEED-CI certified: 21-26 points
LEED-CI Silver: 27-31 points
LEED-CI Gold: 32-41 points
LEED-CI Platinum: 41-57 points
The following represent specific LEED-CI point possibilities for Baltix Furniture (11 total):
1 point – MR Credit 4.1 Recycled Content, 10%
Requirements: Use material with recycled content so the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the post-industrial content equals at least 10% of the total value of the materials.
Comments: Percentage determined by weight. Can be met with appropriate material choices.
1 point – MR Credit 4.2 Recycled Content, 20%
Requirements: Use material with recycled content so the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the post-industrial content equals at least 20% of the total value of the materials.
Comments: Point is additional reward for exceeding credit MR 4.1
1 point - MR Credit 5.1 Regional Materials, 20% manufactured regionally
Requirement: Use a minimum of 20% regionally manufactured materials
Comments: Most panels, tops, and structural aluminum meet this requirement. Measured in dollar value.
NOTE: These points are only available for projects within 500 miles of Minneapolis!
1 point – MR Credit 5.2 Regional Materials, 10% extracted regionally
Requirement: Use a minimum of 10% regionally extracted materials
Comments: Most panels and tops meet this requirement. Measured in dollar value.
NOTE: These points are only available for projects within 500 miles of Minneapolis!
1 point – MR Credit 6 Rapidly Renewable Materials, 5%
Requirement: Use minimum 5% rapidly renewable materials, defined as materials made from plants that are typically harvested within a 10-year cycle or less.
Comments: Most panels and tops meet this requirement. Measured in dollar value.
1 point – MR Credit 7 Certified Wood
Requirements: Use minimum 50% wood-based materials certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines.
Comments: Currently researching FSC certified options for panels and tops - we will be able to support this requirement.
1 point – EQ Credit 4.5 Low-Emitting Materials
Requirements: Use systems furniture and office seating that is Greenguard™ certified or registered or meet similar emissions testing as specified in LEED-CI document
Comments: Our products almost certainly meet these requirements, but we have not pursued actual testing and/or certification – we can support this requirement in the very near future. The policy of Baltix is to favor the use of non-outgassing materials to promote a healthy work environment regardless of LEED requirements.
1 point – EQ Credit 8.1 Daylight and Views, 75% Daylight
Requirement: Daylight in 75% or more of all regularly occupied spaces.
Comments: Strategies include lower partition heights, transparent/translucent panels, and open space design.
1 point – EQ Credit 8.2 Daylight and Views, 90% Daylight
Requirement: Daylight in 90% or more of all regularly occupied spaces.
Comments: Strategies include lower partition heights, transparent/translucent panels, and open space design.
1 point – EQ Credit 8.3 Daylight and Views, 90% Views
Requirement: Views in 90% or more of all regularly occupied spaces have direct line of sight to outside window(s).
Comments: Strategies include lower partition heights, transparent/translucent panels, and open space design.
1 point – ID Credit 1 Innovation in Design
Requirements: Identify intent of proposed innovation in Green Building Rating System not specifically addressed by LEED-CI
Comments: This is an opportunity for generating points above and beyond the rating system - an example of a potential point we could successfully support would be a lifecycle analysis of material choices, one option listed in the LEED-CI document.
For inquiries and discussions regarding Baltix and LEED point contributions on specific projects, please contact us at info@baltix.com or call 763-210-0155.