Intent:
- Reduce use of “long cycle” and finite raw materials.
Implementation:
- Use rapidly renewable materials and products for 2.5% of total value of all building materials and products used (based on cost)
- harvested within a 10-year cycle or shorter
- consider:
- bamboo flooring
- wool
- cotton insulation
- cork flooring
- linoleum flooring
- wheat board cabinets
- straw board
- agrifiber
Code:
- none
Submittal Phase:
- construction
Extra Credit:
- use 5% instead of 2.5% for an extra point.
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
35 Comments On This Post
Just discovered this web site – you are doing a great job!
Check out the extra point for MRc6 – 10% (it’s not twice the required 2.5%) per the USGBC 2.2 Reference Guide.
Hi Beth,
I’m currently looking at the USGBC 2.2 reference guide, second edition page 279 under exemplary performance and I read the following:
“For rapidly renewable materials, the percentage must be 5% or greater.”
Can you please tell me where you got this information?
Thank you for checking this!
Just so everybody is clear, the exemplary performance credit threshold is 5%, not 10, for rapidly renewable materials. Beth was using an older version of the reference guide, so the summary here is correct.
the canadian version 1.0 requirement is 5%, does it mean to gain exemplary requirement, it will be 10% – double ?
pg 279 LEED NC v2.2
“Exemplary Performance
An Innovation in Design point for exemplary performance may be available when the next incremental percentage threshold is achieved. For rapidly renewable materials, the percentage must be 10% or greater.”
i have a first edition copy, but haven’t see this updated in any of the errata, I could just be missing it though.
I have the third edition Page 279 , it says
” Exemplary Performance
An Innovation in Design point for exemplary performance may be available when the next incremental percentage threshold is achieved. For rapidly renewable materials, the percentage must be 10% or greater.”
Pat , great website , my test is tomorrow
I have the LEED NC V2.2 third edition Page 285, it says “5% or greater”.
Why is linoleum flooring considered a rapidly renewable materia.?
Hi Katie,
That’s a good question.
Upon further research I see that Linoleum IS a rapidly renewable material, due to it’s plant-based linseed oil and pine resin content.
Thanks, and best of luck to you!
The interior design firm on a $2 million LEED office building, with a $900,000
materials budget, has been asked to specify materials that will ensure achievement of
MR Credit 6, Rapidly Renewable Materials. The project has already used $10,000 of
wheat-straw particleboard for exterior sheathing, and $8,000 in cotton insulation.
What material should the design team specify?
A) ___ $8,000 in bamboo flooring
B) ___ $2,000 in cork tile
C) ___ $10,000 in armchairs, tables, and bookshelves made from leather,
wheat-straw particleboard, cotton, and bamboo
D) ___ The credit threshold has already been met
can someone answer this please thanks.
Seems to me that you need .025*900,000=22,500 spent on RRM. If cotton and straw particleboard are already RRM then you have 18,000 already in RRM with only (22,500-18,000= ) $4,500.
In terms of required amount spent on RRM, neither B nor D satisfy it. A is clearly correct. C seems to be the tricky answer but I’d say that the furniture does not constitute building materials. In an actual LEED question it should say PICK 2 OF 4 or something which would tell you right away if C is even worth considering.
Furniture can be counted for MRc6 as long as it is also counted for MRc3-Mrc7. In the example problem above the answer C is incorrect because the question does not clarify if furniture was used in other credits.
my apologies for another stupid question, but my test is tomorrow and i keep getting EAc4 Enhanced Refrigerant Management questions wrong on my practice tests even though i’ve reread the section at least 3 times… can someone please clarify if there is a leakage rate requirement for this credit and what it is?
Nikki,
It’s too late to answer this question for you (hope you passed…) but this might help others.
The following is quoted directly from NC v2.2 3rd ed.
“Refrigerant Leakage Rate (Lr) is assumed
to be 2%/yr for all equipment types. Endof-
life Refrigerant Loss (Mr) is assumed to
be 10% for all equipment types. Applicants
may use alternate values for Lr and Mr if
they demonstrate and document information
in support of their claim, such as—
* Manufacturers’ test data for refrigerant
leakage rates (%/yr);
* Refrigerant leak detection equipment
in the room where the equipment is
located;
* A preventative maintenance program
for minimizing equipment refrigerant
leakage; and
* A program for recovering and recycling
refrigerant at the end of the equipment
lifecycle.
Projects may not claim zero leakage over
the lifecycle of the HVAC&R equipment
installed in the project.”
Oh yeah – and this should have been asked in the section for EAc4, not MRc6.
in the buildinggreen quiz,
Which of the following materials contribute to the rapidly renewable content calculation under MR6? (choose 4)
a) bamboo cabinets
b) cotton-insulated ductwork
c) landscaping plants with a less-than-10-year life cycle
d) cork flooring
e) rigid foam insulation with corn-derived binder
f) composite wood using saplings culled from an FSC-certified forest
g) straw-plastic composite decking
h) maple flooring
the answers are a,d,e,g
but I’m not sure why b is not an answer.
I believe cotton batt insulation qualifies but not cotton-insulated ductwork.
Tricky
See table 1 pg. 284 ref guide 3rd ed.
It seems to me it does not count because MEP does not qualify for this or any of the MR credits. yes, tricky.
I would be thrown by f as well.
Does mechanical, electrical and plumbing components fit to this credit?
Hmm, it does not specify but I have seen that MEP does not count toward any of the other MR credits. I would assume the same here though the case can be made that the weight of RRM insulation in MEP should count since it is not specified. My thought would be, if the question asks for four selections and there are five with RRM, one of which is in MEP (such as jdt’s sample question)…don’t go with the MEP insulation.
Great site! Thanks for all the information. I am looking for clarification to exam questions regarding MR credits and cost calculation; the 45% default value would only be applied if a question only lists total construction cost, not material values. True or false?
Assuming true, if material cost is given, the % would apply to the that cost with no default value needed. True or false?
Hope this is clear.
9. A green-built fire station is being constructed out of a 1920s-era police station. The new building reuses 98% of the exterior structure of the old building and 40% of interior elements. It also intends to collect, store, and recycle glass, plastics, and metals. In addition, all wood purchased for the project will be FSC-certified, and the project team has made a large-scale effort to incorporate non-structural interior elements of the project, such as doors, that were unfit for use under the same circumstances, into decorative aspects such as trim. For which LEED points would the project be eligible? (Choose 1.)
a. MRc1.1, MRc3, MRc7
b. MRc1.1, MRc1.2, MRc3, MRc7
c. MRc1.1, MRc1.2, MRc1.3, MRc3, MRc7
d. MRc1.3, MRc3, MRc7
e. MRc1.1, MRc1.2, MRc7
f. The project is not eligible for LEED certification
The Answer is surprisingly F instead of B
Help!
Arpita
The project does not meet the min requirements for MR prereq 1. It needs to recycle 5 materials: paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal.
Arp,
This project didn’t comply with Prerequisite of MR, which is to recycle at MINIMUM of paper, cardboard, plastic, glass & metal. It only mentioned 3 outta 5, which is not complying with MRprerequisite, therefore it is not eligible for LEED certification itself.
It got me too, sneaky sneaky. Thnanks for posting the question. If anyone has any more sneaky ones like that please post them.
Here is a question from “LEED AP EXAM GUIDE”.
Rapidly renewable material may also qualify for which credit(s)?
a. Credit 3.1, Material Reuse
b. Credit 5.1, Regional Materials
c. Credit 7, Certified Wood
d. All of the above
The book says the answer is “d”.
I am confused becasue the Reference Guide says a material that contribute for MRc3 cannot be applied for MRc6, Rapidly Renewable Materials.
Here is a quote from the Reference Guide page 261 “Materials contributing toward achievement of Credit 3 cannot be applied to MR Credits 1, 2, 4, 6 or 7.”
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Does anyone know if GYPSUM WALLBOARD is considered a RAPIDLY RENEWABLE MATERIAL???
According to a mock exam I took, the answer is yes but I don’t find it anywhere in the reference guide. Is it a mistake? Please help. Thanks.
Gypsum can be easily recycled but is an extracted mineral product, and therefore not rapidly renewable. I think it must be a mistake. Unless thy are counting the paper on the surface as a proportion of the material.
All the practice questions I have seen on rapidly renewable materials have focused entirely on the list in the RG.
Would the use of rapidly renewable versions of any or all of the following contribute to MR 6. Rapidly Renewable Materials?? (v3 – 2009, New Construction err…BD&C)
* Asphalt & Tar Removers
* Asphalt Restorers
* Concrete & Asphalt Release Fluids
* Concrete Curing Agents
* Concrete Repair Patch
* Mulch & Compost
* Roof Coatings
Thanks!
Does any one know the answer for min’s Q?
thanks
I was thinking about min’s Q and here it is:
“if the product was a piece of furniture it may included for credits 3 to 7 & in that case may be the correct answer for min’s Q is “D””
Please advise
thanks
Pat,
I used your materials and references, you are doing a great job. I am currently credentialed as an AP, BD+C in version 3. We are a door manufacture. How can I find out how much of the product must be rapidly renewable to qualify for the point. Example: we have a core that has 3.4% per square foot of rapidly renewable material, the remainder is not. How can I find out if this qualifies.
Thank you,
Wally Berry LEED-AP, BD+C
Pat et al.
I have a similar question as Wally.
Trying to figure out how to calculate the contribution when the rapid renewable material is part of an assembly.
This is pretty straight forward for recycled material, but not spelled out in the MR 6 stuff I read.