Sources: CP staff; U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.
Acknowledging supplier and product interests’ central role in green building practice, USGBC’s LEED Steering Committee has tasked a new Supply Chain Optimization Group with supporting the LEED v4 Materials and Resources (MR) section.
Chartered with raw material producer, chemical supplier, product manufacturer, design team, academia and government agency representatives, “The group will focus on exploring the desired outcomes and feasibility of the Materials and Resources credit 4, and proposing additional or alternative approaches if required,” affirms Byrna Dunn (Moseley Architects) chair of the LEED Steering Committee, which convened late last month during the 2014 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, New Orleans.
MR credit 4 encourages the use of products and materials for which life-cycle information is available and that have environmentally, economically and socially preferable impacts; rewards raw material sources whose products are verified to have improved life-cycle performance; and, incentivizes project teams for selecting products evaluated against robust criteria for human and environmental health and whose chemical ingredients are inventoried against accepted methodology.
“The formation of the Supply Chain Optimization Working Group represents an opportunity to improve communication and collaboration as we work toward better, healthier buildings and communities,” says USGBC Founding Chair and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. “Participants are a true reflection of the inclusive and technical development process that defines LEED.”