Material Ingredient Reporting and Optimization

Option 1 of MR credit BPDO – Material Ingredients relates to transparency, with the incentive for project teams to gather information about building materials and identify specific ingredients of a given product. It requires selection of products for which manufacturers disclose a product’s chemical inventory to at least 0.1% or (1,000 ppm). That is to say 99.9% of a product’s ingredients must be disclosed.

The USGBC’s LEED v4 BD+C Reference Guide Addenda tables in April 2016 and April 2017 expanded the list of acceptable programs to include Declare, ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard, Cradle to Cradle Material Health Certificate, Product Lens Certification and Facts – NSF/ANSI 336, in addition to Manufacturer Inventory, Health Product Declaration (HPD), and Cradle to Cradle. Note that Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are only required to report ingredients to 1% (10,000 ppm), so unless the MSDS specifically states materials have been disclosed to 1,000 ppm, it is not compliant documentation. For a complete list of acceptable programs refer to the Credit Library.

For assistance identifying compliant documentation consult this website for guidance on HPDs and this summary of Declare labels.

Option 2, Material Ingredient Optimization, relates to reducing impact on health and the environment, with the incentive for project teams to go a step further and make choices about less harmful products. It requires selection of products which comply with either GreenScreen v1.2 Benchmark, REACH Optimization or Cradle to Cradle. Note that manufacturers must disclose a product’s chemical inventory to at least 0.01% (100 ppm), as 100 ppm is a more granular level of detail than 1,000 ppm. For a full list of Option 2 requirements refer to the Credit Library.