LEED CoreConcepts&Strategies_3rd edition - Page 080

Extracted Content

For consumers the biggest challenge is identifying what products are truly green. As public interest in sustainability has grown, so has the practice of greenwashing, or presenting misinformation to the consumer to portray a product or policy as being more environmentally friendly than it actually is. Misinformation is common among products because it is difficult to compare two products with different sustainable attributes. For example, consider cabinets made of wheat husks sourced from all over the country and bound together in resin versus solid wood cabinets made from local timber. There are upstream, downstream, and cost considerations to each option. Product transparency tools like life-cycle assessment (LCA), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and material ingredient disclosures provide a more comprehensive picture of materials and products, enabling project teams to make informed decisions. Careful product selection can produce greater overall benefits, while encouraging manufacturers to improve their products through innovation.

STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING DURING DESIGN AND OPERATIONS:

•• IDENTIFY LOCAL SOURCES OF ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PRODUCTS. Using local materials not only reduces the environmental harms associated with transportation, it also supports the local economy.

•• DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS POLICY. Outline the goals, thresholds, and procedures for procurement of ongoing consumables and durable goods. Incorporate systems thinking. Evaluate materials based on their upstream and downstream consequences. Monitor compliance to ensure that the policy is effective.

•• SPECIFY GREEN MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT. Give preference to rapidly renewable materials, regional materials, salvaged materials, and those with recycled content. Choose vendors who promote source reduction through reusable or minimal packaging of products. Look for third-party certifications, such as the Forest Stewardship Council, Green Seal, and ENERGY STAR.

•• SPECIFY GREEN CUSTODIAL PRODUCTS. Choose sustainable cleaning products and materials that meet Green Seal, Environmental Choice, or EPA standards to protect indoor environmental quality and reduce environmental damage.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Building construction generates large amounts of solid waste, and waste is generated across the building life-cycle as new products arrive and used materials are discarded. This waste may be transported to landfills, incinerated, recycled, or composted. Solid waste disposal contributes directly to greenhouse gas emissions through transportation and the production of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—in landfills. Incineration of waste produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct. EPA estimated the greenhouse gas emissions from building waste streams and found 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. Improving recycling rates to just 35% could result in savings equivalent to more than 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. [26]

26 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Measuring Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Waste (2010), epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/measureghg.html.

73