Which came first – the chicken or the egg? The Badger doesn’t care – they are both delicious! In the case of LEED v4 and the materials market – the answer is abundantly clear. LEED v4 came much sooner than manufacturers and project teams were ready for. We talk to teams every day struggling mightily to find products that comply for LEED v4 materials credits – and are still finding credit options that there are no market opportunities for (I’m looking at you EPD Option 2).
After 1 too many beer reviews at the office, the Badger decided to take it upon ourselves to comb through our awesome database of v4 compliant products to give you a cliff note’s version of which products (at a board, categorical level) can help you most easily earn the LEED v4 MR credits. Out of our roughly 1,200 products, they breakout about 1/3 for Material Ingredient Reporting (HPDs or Cradle to Cradle) and 2/3 EPDs. Take that for what it is worth. The good news is you only need 20 products to earn Option 1 for both the EPD and MIR credit, and a lot of products double dip. If you need a suggestion of where to start looking for products, here’s a quick snapshot.
WOOD
Most wood in North America will fall under the American Wood Council’s Industry Wide EPDs (that only count as a half-point each), but include softwood plywood, softwood lumber, OSB, LVLs, Glu-Lam timbers, I-joists, MDF, and particle board. You can easily pick up a handful of those w/o much work. Huber’s popular ZIP, Advantech an TruSpec products all have Product Specific Type 3 EPDs as well.
CEILING TILES AND GRID
One of the most robust categories, Armstrong, CertainTeed and USG all offer a host of options with EPDs, HPDs and other Material Ingredient Reporting. Since you can use up to 5 products per manufacturer, if you are savvy, you can get a quarter of your EPD and MIR accounted for just in your ceilings.
INSULATION
Insulation is another opportunity to get multiple products within the same manufacturer. While the choices are somewhat limited, CertainTeed and Knauff both offer thermal, acoustical, and mechanical insulation products with EPDs (and some with MIR compatibility)
FLOORING
Floor is the mother lode of EPDs and HPDs. You could probably get all twenty products for each credit in this category alone, when you look at carpet, tile, VCT, linoleum, rubber flooring, cove base and all the associated adhesives behind them. You’ve got almost limitless options here, as almost any carpet style will fall into one of the EPDs. Consider yourself in good shape with products from Armstrong, Beaulieu, Bentley Mills, Crossville, American Olean Tile, Daltile, ECORE, Emser, Forbo, Interface, Milliken, Mohawk, Patcraft and Shaw, while Laticrete, WF Taylor and XL Brands provide plenty of options to hold those products in place.
ROOFING
You’ve got options on top of your building almost no matter what type of roof you’re building. The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association has industry wide EPDs for asphalt-based roofs, including mod-bit, built-up and shingles, while multiple manufacturers have EPDs for PVC membrane roofs including Carlisle, Duro-Last and GAF.
PAINTS
Paints have you covered (ha!) as well. Benjamin Moore, PPG, Sherwin Williams and ECOS all have a line (or more) that have EPDs and/or MIR compatibility.
METALS
Not a ton of options here. You’ve got industry wide EPDs for steel, and some product specific EPDs for Rebar from Gerdeau and interior metal framing and accessories from Merino+Ware – but it is enough to pick up another 5 products.
DOORS/WINDOWS/HARDWARE
If you’ve got commercial entries/windows/storefronts, a number of options exist from YKK, Assa Abloy and Kawneer, and there are a surprising number of door hinges, locks and hardware that have EPDs from the likes of Norton, Pemko, Sargent and Schlage.
PLUMBING
Not a lot of brand diversity in plumbing, but there are dozens of porcelain thrones and urinals from Kohler that offer EPDs. Get creating – a different toilet in each stall could pick up 5 EPDs.
There’s a host other options out there – this is just an early look at products that are found in most projects. Take a look at the lists below for a bit more detail on the narratives above.
WOOD
- North American Softwood Plywood
- North American Softwood Lumber
- North American OSB
- North American LVLs
- North American Glued Laminated Timbers
- North American I-Joists
- North American MDF
- North American Particleboard
- Huber – Zip System
- Huber – AdvanTech Subflooring
- Huber – TruSpec Engineered Wood
INSULATION
- Certainteed – multiple options of sound, thermal and mechanical insulation
- Knauff – multiple options of sound/thermal/pipe insulation with EPDs
CEILING TILES AND GRID
- Armstrong – 14 options with EPDs, 7 which also have MIR
- Certainteed – multiple options with EPDs and HPDs
- USG – multiple options with EPDs
FLOORING
- Armstrong LVT
- Armstonr VCT
- Armstrong Biobased
- Beaulieu – Multiple Options with EPD and HPD
- Bentley Mills (multiple with EPDs a few with C2C)
- Crossville Tile (EPD)
- American Olean Tile (EPD)
- Daltile (EPD)
- ECORE International – multiple flooring types (EPD)
- Emser Tile – Multiple options, HPD
- Forbo – dozens of options with EPD and HPD
- Interface – dozens with EPD
- Laticrete – multiple thin set and grout with EPD
- Milliken – Multiple carpet options with EPD
- Mohawk – Multiple options with EPD and C2C
- Patcraft – multiple with EPD and C2C
- Shaw – dozens with EPDs and HPDs
- Tarkett/Tandus Centiva – multiple options – EPD, C2C
- XL Brands (dozne of adhesives – C2C)
- WF Taylor – Dozen of adhesives – C2C)
– MIR Options
- Armstrong Flip Spray Adhesive (C2C)
- Srmstrong S-599 Vinyl Sheet Adhesive (C2C)
- Armstrong S-799 Adhesive for Linoleum and Rubber (C2C)
ROOFING
- ARMA – mod bit
- ARMA – Asphalt shingle
- Carlisle – Single Ply PVC (EPD)
- Duro-Last – 4 different PVC membranes (EPD)
- GAF – PVC membrane EPD
PAINTS
- Benjamin Moore (C2C/HPD)
- UltraSpec 500
- Natura
- Gennex
- ECOS – multiple with HPDs
- PPG – Speedhise Zero – EPD/HPD
- Sherwin Williams – Promar 200 Zero VOC, Harmony – EPDs
METALS
- Gerdau – Rebar (EPD)
- Marino Ware – interior metal framing and accessories – EPDS
DOORS/WINDOWS/HARDWARE
- YKK – multiple options EPD
- Kawneer – multiple options EPD
- Assa Abbloy – Multiple Options EPD
- Norton – door closers – EPDs
- Pemko – door gaskets – dozens of EPDs
- Sargent – door locks – EPDs
- Schlage – door locks, EPDs
PLUMBING
- Kohler – dozens of options with EPDs
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