The U.S. Green Building Council‘s (USGBC) next update to the LEED green building program, coined LEED 2012, will include updates to the Materials & Resources (MR) credit category. The updates reflect thousands of write-in comments received through the first LEED public comment period and include changes to existing LEED credit categories, as well as two new credit categories: Integrated Process and Performance.
MR, which addresses waste reduction while improving the environmental impact of materials selection and waste disposal, has been revised to include an increased focus on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is an analytical technique used to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s life, from extraction, manufacture, use, reuse, and disposal.
In addition to LCA, USGBC has added new MR credits that encourage project teams to specify materials that have been sourced responsibly as well as products screened to assess the impacts the product might have on human health. To encourage increased transparency of information about products, a new credit rewards the use of materials for which Environmental Product Declarations have been made. This practice encourages product manufacturers to engage in disclosure activities that provide building product specifiers and procurement officials with consistent and complete information about their products.
