Same as credit MR 4.2, except for percentage of total construction material from recycled items (20% in Materials and Resources 4.2)
10% of Total Construction Material from Recycled Items (post consumer + 1/2 pre-consumer)
Intention:
- Reduce impact from extraction and processing of virgin materials
- Increase use of recycled content in building
Implementation:
There are two types of recycled material:
- Post Consumer: material already been used and will be reused for another application.
- examples: plastic, paper, glass, and metal
- Pre-Consumer: material form the manufacturer that has not been used and will NOT be reused
- examples: wheat straw, sawdust, fly ash
- To clarify, we must use materials with recycled content such that “the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the pre-consumer content constitutes at least 10% (20% for MR 4.2) BASED ON COST, of the total value of the materials in the project.
- Total Materials Cost —> 2 options
- 45% construction cost (total construction cost of entire project multiplied by 0.45) OR
- actual materials cost
- benefit of using actual material cost rather than default 45% is that projects with < 45% actual materials cost would find it easier to achieve the 10% and 20% (MR 4.2) thresholds since equation of recycled content = total recycled content cost divided by total material cost.
- For Calculating Assembly Recycled Content (composed of multiple materials)
- consider percents by weight of post-consumer and pre-consumer recycled content.
- Total Materials Cost —> 2 options
- Exclude:
- MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing)
- Elevator equipment
- Includes:
- Anything but MEP & elevator equipment that is recycled.
- Furniture can be used, only if used consistently in credits MR 3.1 through MR 7.
- Steel products with no information available, assume recycled content to be 25% post consumer.
Codes/Standards Applied:
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14021 – 1999
- They define what recycled material is
Extra Credit:
- 30% (instead of 10% or 20% as in MR4.2)total construction material from recycled items
Submittal Phase:
- Construction (tip: all Materials and Resources credits are submitted in the construction phase except MR P1)
Links from Reference Guide:
- Recycled Content Product Directory
- GreenSpec – Building Green, Inc.
- Guide to Resource-Efficient Building Elements
- Oikos
- U.S.EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines Program
Other Materials & Resources Credits
- MR P1 – Storage and Collection of Recyclables (prerequisite)
- MR 1.1 – Building Reuse, Maintain 75% of Existing Walls, Floors, & Roof
- MR 1.2 – Building Reuse, Maintain 95% of Existing Walls, Floors & Roof
- MR 1.3 – Building Reuse, Maintain 50% of Interior Non-Structural Elements
- MR 2.1 – Construction Waste Management, Divert 50% from Disposal
- MR 2.2 – Construction Waste Management, Divert 75% from Disposal
- MR 3.1 – Materials Reuse, 5%
- MR 3.2 – Materials Reuse, 10%
- MR 4.1 – Recycled Content, 10% (post-consumer + 1/2 pre-consumer)
- MR 4.2- Recycled Content, 20% (post-consumer + 1/2 pre-consumer)
- MR 5.1 – Regional Materials, 10% Extracted, Processed & Manufactured Regionally
- MR 5.2 – Regional Materials, 20% Extracted, Processed & Manufactured Regionally
- MR 6 – Rapidly Renewable Materials
- MR 7 – Certified Wood
33 Comments On This Post
a question needs clarification:
A particleboard made from lumber off-cuts from the milling of poplar trees. This is example of :
a – post industrial recycled content
b – post consumer recycled content
my answer is a because the lumber off-cuts prior to consumer use.
any comments?
Lilian,
I believe you are correct. If these are the only two answers, then definitely B is wrong because the consumer has not yet seen the product. A makes sense because it’s material made after production. It’s basically a pre-consumer/post-industrial material, i would say. Any further comments?
You are working on a project and the owner decided to pursue LEED certification
after construction has already started. You are trying to document MR Credit 4,
Recycled Content, and have asked a representative of your supplier about the
recycled content in the steel framing members. She tells you that all of her firm’s
suppliers attempt to provide steel with 80% post-consumer recycled content or better.
Using this information, you may count what percentage of recycled content in the
steel toward the credit?
A) 0%
B) 5%
C) 25%
D) 40%
E) 80%
answer given is C….could anyone explain.
Thanks
Hi Rutvi,
If you look on page 266 of the reference guide, it explains:
“For steel products where no recycled content information is available, assume the recycled content to be 25%”
My educated guess is that since the knowledge about the recycled content in the steel members isn’t really for sure known. She just tells you that the suppliers attempt to provide 80% post-consumer or better, but attempting and having something official on paper is totally different. Someone can attempt to have 80% but only have 50%, or even 0%! So, based on that, we dont have enough information and can only assume 25% per the reference guide. I hope this helps!
Thanks Pat!!!
would tile from a car windshield be post or pre?
Hi Gerry,
Because the glass has already been to the consumer, it is post-consumer.
If a tile was, for example, made from scrap glass from the windshield manufacturer, then it would be pre. Hope that helps!
Does this credit require that the materials be processed offsite or can the materials be processed on-site during construction?
eg. backfill made up of excavated soil used for landscaping.
I still don’t understand what “pre-consumer” recycled content is. It’s a little more clear if you call it “post-industrial” because then it sounds like stuff that comes out of a manufacturing process and is used elsewhere, for another purpose. Is that what they’re saying?
I agree with you Sara, it is confusing. Basically ‘pre-consumer’ recycled content is a by-product of the manufacturing process. Here is a good definition:
“Refers to leftover materials from the manufacturing process. Using or selling this scrap doesn’t divert material from the landfill; it is not truly recycled because it has never been used.”
Source: http://www.thenbs.com/topics/Environment/Glossary/P.asp
If I refinished a door from a building 10 miles away and used it as a table top in my new building would it go towards MRc4.1 Recycled Content or MRc5.1 Regional Materials?
That’s a technical one. I would think that you would definitely satisfy the MRc5.1. The door itself doesn’t include any processed recycled materials, so my guess is it would not qualify. Might be good for a CIR.
beth, could MR3 be one too? because a door is a different function than a table top? its same material but used for diff purpose?
Hi Pat,
Are the terms pre-consumer and post-industrial interpreted to be synonymous as in your earlier response to Lilian on May 21, 2008?
Thanks!
John
Can someone please help me with this question and explain wny? (Answer is not given).
“1.) You are building a foundation with 20,000 of concrete… 200lbs of which is pre consumer recycled fly ash. How much fly ash are you allowed to take as recycled content for Recycled Materials? “
200lbs is only 1% of the total WEIGHT of the construction. This credit is ultimately calculated by COST. There is not enough information given here to answer the question.
You can only count 1/2 of all pre-consumer products to contribute to MRc4.1 too. So you are only going to be getting 0.5% of fly ash to contribute to the total cost of the total cost of concrete.
I would ignore this question, in my experience this is not helpful towards taking the AP Exam. Where are you getting this question from anyhow?
I bet the answers for that question would be something like:
a) 200 lbs
b) 100 lbs
c) 50 lbs
Answer is b.
Though, Adam is correct that it comes down to cost ultimately. So if the answer choices were percentages, 0.5% recycled content would be accepted for the concrete.
For Jonathan Ochshorn’s thought provoking critique of the requirments of the Materials & Resources section of LEED-NC 2.2 (including a demonstration of the fly ash calculation), visit http://people.cornell.edu/pages/jo24/writings/leed2.2critique/MaterialsResources.html
The web site with my critique of LEED-NC 2.2 has been moved. The materials and resources page can be found here: http://www.ochshorndesign.com/cornell/writings/leed2.2critique/MaterialsResources.html
Can you achieve this credit through the use of 100 percent pre-consumer content and no post-consumer content so long as you achieve 10 percent TMC ?
Sample ques:
Which three of the following elements can NOT be utilized for achieving MR Credit
4.1, Recycled Content credit?
A._____ Floor joist
B._____ Decking
C._____ Cabinetry
D._____ Furniture
Ans is BCD,
I understand CD are clear options. I would appreciate if someone can help me understand why B and not A.
Mamz: From where did you get this qn? On page 275 of the reference book, it says that Deacking, Cabinetry and furniture are post consumer waste materials. Why can`t they be used in 4.1?? If anyone knows the answer to this please let me know. Thanks.
Reenu: according to the ref guide, furniture and furnishings can only be included in MR 4 if it is consistently included in credits 3-7. The ques does not say anything about this.
Well I guess if we don’t consider this, looks like there is some problem with the ques.
Hello All
I’m having a hard time with the post consumer and pre consumer products in the practice tests that I’m giving. Is there a trick to remember how one can easily understand wjhich ones are post and pre? Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
Can any one expalin how the answer to this question is “C”.
You are working on a project and the owner decided to pursue LEED certification
after construction has already started. You are trying to document MR Credit 4,
Recycled Content, and have asked a representative of your supplier about the
recycled content in the steel framing members. She tells you that all of her firm’s
suppliers attempt to provide steel with 80% post-consumer recycled content or better.
Using this information, you may count what percentage of recycled content in the
steel toward the credit?
A) 0%
B) 5%
C) 25%
D) 40%
E) 80%
mallik, refer to the reference guide on MRc4, im not sure exactly where it states it but it says by default for steel materials 25% is used for percentage content.
Jonathan: Thanks, I remember studying this in the reference guide.
Can someone please help me understand how to calculate the answer to this question?
In order to pursue MRc4: Recycled Content, a project attempts to use the following materials: $50,000 of 80% recycled steel beas, $25,000 of 80% recycled gypsum boards. Meanwhile, it purchases concrete with $40,000 cementitious materials that has 20% of recycled fly ash by weight as the supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). What is the computed dollar value of recycled content in this project?
a. $115,000
b. $68,000
c. $64,000
d. $38,000
e. $34,000
thanks!
Post Consumer:
Steel
$50,000 x .8 = $40,000
Gyp
$40,000 x .8 = $20,000
Pre Consumer (1/2):
Fly ash
1/2 ($40,000 x .02 (skipped weight to price conversation)) = $4,000
Answer should be C (sum total). All, please correct me if i’m wrong, thanks!
steel: accounting for 25% recycled content
($50,000 x .8)x 0.25 = $10000
gyp:
$40000 x .8 = $20000
Pre consumer flyash:
1/2($40,000 x.02)= $ 4000
i think answer is e…$34,000
Hello, Thanks for your website! I have a question. Do products used in the building process count or is it just building materials? We have a 100% recyclable TEMPORARY floor protection made with over 90% post consumer products and want to see if we can count this towards this credit.
It is said Mechincal, Electric, plumbing euipment and elevator stuffs are excluded from the caculation of recycled contents. Then these portion shall be exculded from totatal construction material(default: 45% of contract amount),too, won’t they?
Is the default 25% recycled content for steel in the newest version of LEED (v3) or is it only in the older LEED v2.2?
Thanks!