Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide First Edition

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• Encourage recycling. Establish a waste reduction policy for operations and maintenance. Provide occupants with easily accessible collection bins for recyclables, and monitor the effectiveness of the policy . • Compost. Institute an onsite compost ing program to turn landscaping debris into mulch. Primary Resources: Waste Reduction Solid waste is continually generated in most buildings as new products arrive and used materials leave as waste . This waste is transported to landfills or sometimes incinerated to generate energy. In either case, the disposal of solid waste produces greenhouse gas emissions. In landfills, a portion of the waste decays and produces methane-a potent greenhouse gas. Incineration of waste produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct. The result is that solid waste ultimately contributes directly to substantial greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA has examined greenhouse gas emissions from building waste streams and estimates that the United States currently recycles approximately 32% of its solid waste-the carbon dioxide equivalent of removing almost 40 million cars from the road. The agency also estimates that improving recycling rates to just 35% could save more than 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The construction and operation of green buildings can be an important part of achieving these reductions. • Construction Materials Recycling Association, www.cdrecycling.org. • Recycled Content Product Directory (California Integrated Waste Management Board), www.ciwmb.ca.goy/rcp. • U.S. EPA information on the link between solid waste and greenhouse ga$ emissions, http://www,epa.gov/climatechaoge/wvcd/wastelgeneraljnfo.html . • Waste Reduction Model (WARM) (U.S. EPA), www.epa .gOY/warm. THINK ABOUT IT Embodied energy and emissions of solid waste. Many landfil!s burn the gas that seeps from buried piles of trash and garbage, and in some cases, this practice qualifies as a widely recognized method for creating "carbon offsets" real, durable, verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Why is burning landfill gas considered a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions In other cases, landfill gas may be captured and used as fuel to generate electricity. Materials and Resources 55
LIFE-CYCLE IMPACTS LEED increasingly incorporates strategies intended to reduce the enVIronmental impacts of materials acquired for construction, operation, maintenance, and upgrades of a bui Id ing. To embed these strategies in the building's construction and operations processes, teams develop environmentally responsible procurement policies. Strategies to promote sustainable purchasing during construction include the followi ng, • Develop a construction purchasing policy. Outline the goals, thresholds, and procedures for procurement of construction materials. Monitor compliance and track the effectiveness of the policy to ensure that it is working. • Specify green materials. Rapidly renewable materials, regional materials, salvaged materials, and materials with recycled content reduce environmental impacts and promote sustainable material sources. • Specify green interiors. Use finishes, carpets. fabric, and other materials wit h low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, and other potentially toxic chemicals to protect indoor environmental quality and reduce the life·cycle impacts of materials. Strategies to promote sustainable purchasing during operations include these suggestions, • Develop a sustainable purchasing policy. Out line the goals, thresholds, and procedures for procurement of ongoing consumables and durable goods. Monitor compliance to ensure that the policy is effective. • Specify green materials. Give preference to rapidly renewable materials, regional materials, salvaged materials, and materials with recycled content. • Specify green electronic equipment. Choose computers and appliances that meet ENERGY STAR, EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool), or other standards for efficient energy consumption. THINK ABOUT IT Sustainable product certification. Evaluating the sustainabijity of green products is complex, and competing claims make it difficult to determine the relative merits of many products. Third-party programs such as the Forest Stewardship Council and Green Seal offer independent measures of performance, but certifiers' varying and even conflicting standards can create confusion . What are the pros and cons of having different approaches to evaluating the sustainability of materials 56 Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide
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Page 5 and 6: ".""",," Green building is an integ
Page 7 and 8: The green building movement strives
Page 9 and 10: THINK ABOUT IT The future of the bu
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Page 15 and 16: The study concluded that the federa
Page 17 and 18: • "Costing Green: A Comprehensive
Page 19 and 20: LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND ENVIRONMEN
Page 21 and 22: The LEED rating systems address the
Page 23 and 24: The credit weightings are based on
Page 25 and 26: Carbon Footprint Building Systems .
Page 27 and 28: necessary permits) to the completio
Page 29 and 30: Assessments and Measurements To eva
Page 31 and 32: The drivers of transportation impac
Page 33 and 34: THINK ABOUT IT Electric cars and ne
Page 35 and 36: THINK ABOUT IT Regenerative design.
Page 37 and 38: Primary Resources: Low-I mpact Deve
Page 39 and 40: Americans' use of the limited publi
Page 41 and 42: Strategies for reducing indoor wate
Page 43 and 44: THINK ABOUT IT Green lawns and gree
Page 45 and 46: AND AlMOS Energy has emerged as a c
Page 47 and 48: Strategies for redu cing energy dem
Page 49 and 50: • Use thermal energy storage. Gen
Page 51 and 52: To achieve LEED certification, new
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Page 55: Assessments and Measurements • Ra
Page 59 and 60: ENVIRONMENTAL According to the EPA,
Page 61 and 62: INDOOR AIR QUALITY Protecting indoo
Page 63 and 64: • "Daylight and Retail Sales" (Ca
Page 65 and 66: Innovative strategies expand the br
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Page 69 and 70: construction waste management plan
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