Three ways to earn points for a LEED sustainable building.

The shift toward sustainable building that’s taken place in recent years has pushed sustainability and healthier indoor environments to the forefront of interior design.

When it comes to one of the most visible and coveted certifications, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the process can seem daunting. With the retirement of LEED 2009 and the introduction of LEED v4 and, most recently, LEED v4.1, navigating the rating systems and specifying paint can feel especially overwhelming.

“The main thing to remember is that LEED v4 and v4.1 focus on human health and transparency beyond previous LEED building certification systems,” says Rick Watson, Sherwin-Williams director of product information.

“There are increased thresholds for energy, water, waste and indoor environment quality, but LEED v4 and v4.1 also introduce how building designers and architects think about, source and utilize building materials,” Watson says. “Advanced lifecycle assessments, environmental product declarations and material ingredient reporting bring some transparency to the manufacturing and decision-making process for materials that need to be considered.”

So, how does that change the equation when it comes to getting certification for paint?

“Both VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) emissions must also be taken into consideration,” Watson says. “That’s a change from earlier versions of LEED. So, both present and expressed VOCs — ‘off gasses’ — can have a major impact on the qualification of products for LEED v4 and v4.1.”

As with previous LEED certifications, LEED v4 and v4.1 projects must earn a number of points to gain certification. Under LEED v4 and v4.1, architectural paints and coatings can help contribute points across three different credit categories for building projects: Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ credit), Materials and Resources (MR credit), and Integrated Analysis of Building Materials (pilot credit).

Indoor Environmental Quality Credit

The first LEED v4 and v4.1 category, EQ, has a subcategory called EQ, Low-Emitting Materials, which includes paint and coatings. Design teams can earn points by using VOC-compliant and third-party-validated, emissions-tested products.

Points are earned by bundling or combining products from two or more of the six available categories: interior paint and coatings, interior adhesives and sealants, flooring, composite wood, insulation, and furniture. So, using compliant paint products, adhesives and sealants can help earn one point. By adding compliant flooring products, composite wood and insulation in LEED v4, you could earn a total of three points for having five compliant categories.

LEED v4.1 goes one step further. A project can earn up to three points with eligible products in four product categories, plus earn an exemplary performance point, meaning the products reach a 90 percent emissions threshold in at least three product categories. Points may also be earned by bundling or combining compliant products from two or more categories, and the project earns an exemplary performance point if only one or two points are achieved this way.

Happily, there are charts of low-emitting materials and labels with third-party certifications available on websites such as www.ul.com/spot to help specifiers identify whether a particular product is compliant. Third-party certifications, such as UL GREENGUARD Gold, also help when specifying for LEED.

Materials and Resources Credit

The second LEED v4 credit category, MR, gives two different ways paints and coatings can help earn points: environmental product declarations (EPDs) and material ingredient reporting.

EPDs address how transparent the product is for environmental lifecycle impacts. The EPD acts as a “nutrition label” for environmental impact of a product. To earn points toward the EPD credit, design teams must use at least 20 different permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers that meet certain criteria.

The material ingredient reporting credit follows the same “5 and 20” rule as EPDs, but the compliancy programs are different. The 20 different permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers must demonstrate the chemical inventory of the product to at least 0.1 percent (1,000 ppm).

LEED v4.1 takes EPDs and MR to a whole new level of transparency. According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), products with third-party certification (Type III) — including external verification and external critical review in which the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as the participant by the program operator — are valued as 1.5 products for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

The MR credit also rewards manufacturers who submit their products for third-party validation. The third-party validation is crucial, as it ensures a consistent level of quality control, compared with self-declared programs. According to USGBC, any compliant reports with third-party verification that include the verification of content inventory are worth 1.5 products for credit achievement calculations.

Pilot Credit

The third way to earn points for paint and coatings products under LEED v4 and v4.1 is integrated analysis of building materials, or the “pilot credit.” The category offers one point for the use of materials that provide lifecycle analysis and have environmentally, economically and socially preferable lifecycle impacts.

This way of earning points requires building teams to use three or more different permanently installed products that have a documented qualitative analysis of the potential health, safety and environmental impacts of the product in five stages of its lifecycle.

Want Help With Specifying for LEED?

Your Sherwin-Williams architectural account executive (AAE) can help you with LEED and other guidelines. Find your local consultant by visiting https://www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/specifications/architectural-account-executive.

Product Lens in MR
UL’s Product Lens Certification is an ingredient disclosure tool that provides hazard information in context, fulfilling the new demands for product transparency.

The certification tool is the result of a collaboration between UL Environment, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, with UL basing the program’s chemical assessment on the Material Health Assessment Methodology from the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products program. The tool was developed in partnership with MBDC to meet and exceed the chemical disclosure requirements outlined by the design community and LEED.

Sherwin-Williams is the first paint manufacturer to be certified in the Product Lens program, making it easier for architects, specifiers and other purchasers to achieve LEED v4 and v4.1 certification with its paints and coatings. Product Lens has been designed to meet MR credit requirements in LEED v4 and v4.1 for chemical disclosure under Building Product Disclosure and Optimization — Material Ingredients and can be viewed at www.ul.com/spot.