Are you Leeding the industry on?

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Green building products can contribute, in a big way, to achieving a Leed certification. CW delves deep into the issue.

The preservation of our environment is quickly climbing up many people’s agendas – be it world leaders, environment protectionists or even individual industries, including the likes of construction and oil and gas.

At first, it was just activists shouting slogans on street corners, but it soon caught the attention of global leaders and governments all over the world.

The gravity of the situation has now seeped deep into the daily lives of the world populace with many incorporating green methods into everything they do. Recycling is a small example. It has also made its way into the conscience of manufactures – case in point, building materials manufacturers.

Construction activity is one of the biggest contributors that harm the environment and many suppliers have begun to realise this and turn to less emitting materials and greener products.

However, the change has also given birth to a new opportunity – an opportunity, which some manufacturers have used to market themselves.

“It drives me mad when I get phone calls from building material manufacturers trying to lure me to meet with them on the back of their Leed certification,” said Holley Chant, Leed AP, who is corporate sustainability director at international consultancy firm Keo.

“As soon as someone says they’re Leed certified, I make sure they’re ruled out completely. Leed does not certify products, it certifies buildings and from there on, communities etc. People calling me up to say their products are Leed certified already shows how little they know about Leed.”

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) Green Building Rating System was developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998 and provides for environmentally sustainable construction. Attaining a Leed certification is considered one of the hardest achievements and this is due to its transparent process where the technical criteria proposed by the Leed committees are publicly reviewed for approval by more than 10,000 membership organisations that constitute the USGBC.

So what do building materials manufacturers really mean when they say they are Leed certified? David Guilabert Ortuno, planning director, Cemex explains it from a suppliers point of view.

“It means they are a supplier of products that can help construction projects gain Leed credits,” he says. “There is no Leed certification for suppliers; it is a building rating system not a company rating system.

“However, a company can position itself to be a supplier of materials that will help a project earn a host of different Leed credits. For example, Cemex can supply products to reduce the UHI (urban heat island) effect, contain certain levels of recycled materials, reduce energy consumption in a building or help projects gain innovation credits by surpassing the normal performance requirements. These are some examples of where the building materials used, can contribute directly to a projects Leed certification.” But Tarana Daroogar, technical services manager for building materials provider Mapei, feels that the correct term is not Leed certified but “Leed compliant”.

“There is often a misconception on this point. Products are often referred to as ‘Leed compliant,’ which means that they can contribute to the points required for the Leed rating or other green building certifications.

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