LEED® For New Construction

How Does Office Furniture Apply to New Construction and Major Renovations Rating System version 2.2 *Please note that furniture may be included in calculations made for Materials and Resources credits 3-7 provided that it is included consistently.

Materials and Resources

Credit 3.1 Resource Reuse

A building can be certified by achieving a certain number of credits set forth by the LEED rating systems. Depending on the number of credits attained a building will be designated platinum, gold, or silver. At the start of a LEED project the company will decide what rating system applies to their project and ultimately what credits within that rating system they will seek.

Requirements 
Use salvaged, refurbished or reused materials such that the sum of these materials constitutes at least 5%, based on cost, of the total value of the materials on the project.

Credit 3.2 Resource Reuse

The intent and requirements of this credit are identical to credit 3.1 except that you must use salvaged, refurbished, or reused building materials and products such that the sum of these materials constitutes at least 10%.

Used Office Furniture Application
We will work with you to calculate your furniture budget and apply that to your overall materials budget. Conklin offers both as-is and completely remanufactured lines of used office furniture.

Credit 4.1 Recycled Content

The intent of this credit is to increase demand for building products that incorporate recycled content materials, thereby reducing impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin materials.

Requirements 
Use materials with recycled content such that the sum of the post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the pre-consumer content constitutes at lest 10% (based on cost) of the total value of the materials in the project.  The recycled content value of a material assembly shall be determined by weight.  The recycled fraction of the assembly is then multiplied by the cost of assembly to determine the recycled content value.

Post-Consumer Content-refers to items made with materials that have been recycled by the consumer.  Post consumer is considered the best because it has gotten the most possible use.

Pre-Consumer Content-refers to items made with waste from a manufacturing plant where they make products from new material.

Example:  Pre-consumer waste textiles consist of by-product materials from the textile, fiber and cotton industries. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, each year 750,000 tons of this waste is recycled into new raw materials for the automotive, furniture, mattress, coarse yarn, home furnishings, paper and other industries. Through the efforts of this industry approximately 75% of the pre-consumer textile waste that is generated is diverted from landfills and instead recycled. Post-consumer textile waste consists of any type of garments or household article, made of some manufactured textile that the owner no longer needs and decides to throw away. These articles are discarded either because they are worn out, damaged, outgrown, or out of style. They are sometimes given to charities or sold second hand, but more typically are disposed of into the trash and end up in municipal landfills.*Taken from Green Office Store.

Credit 4.2 Recycled Content 
The intent and requirements of this credit are identical to credit 4.1 except that you must use materials with recycled content such that the sum of the post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the pre-consumer content constitutes at least 20% (based on cost) of the total value of the materials in the project.

Used Office Furniture Application
When remanufacturing panel systems and chairs our customers have a choice in fabric lines. Conklin offers recycled lines of fabric that can be calculated towards this credit.

Credit 5.1 Regional Materials

The intent of this credit is to increase demand for building materials and products that are extracted and manufactured within the region, thereby supporting the use of indigenous resources and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation.

Requirements 
Use building materials or products that have been extracted, harvested, or recovered, as well as manufactured, within 500 miles of the project site for a minimum of 10% (based on cost) of the total materials value.  If only a fraction of the product or material is extracted/harvested/recovered and manufactured locally, then only that percentage (by weight) shall contribute to the regional value.

Credit 5.2 Regional Materials
The intent and requirements are identical to credit 5.1 except that you must use building materials or products that have been extracted, harvested, or recovered, as well as manufactured, within 500 miles of the project site for an additional 10% (total 20%, based on cost) of the total materials value.

Used Office Furniture Application
When specifying products for the remanufacturing process our customers have the choice to utilize very unique products that are locally grown and harvested.  The final manufacturing of the products takes place in our Holyoke, MA warehouse so locations throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and across New England can benefit from these credits.

Credit 6 Rapidly Renewable Materials

The intent of this credit is to reduce the use and depletion of finite raw materials and long-cycle renewable materials by replacing them with rapidly renewable materials.

Requirements 
Use rapidly renewable building materials and products (made from plants that are typically harvested within a ten-year cycle or shorter) for 2.5% of the total value of the building materials and products used in the project, based on cost.

Used Office Furniture Application
It is not uncommon to manufacture new worksurfaces for an existing used cubicle shell, as the worksurfaces are often worn down from use. Conklin offers alternatives to the typical flakeboard.

Credit 7 Certified Wood

he intent of this credit is to encourage environmentally responsible forest management.

Requirements
Use a minimum of 50% of wood-based materials and products, which are certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) Principles and Criteria, for wood building components. 

Used Office Furniture Application 
During the worksurface remanufacturing process many different options of wood-based materials and products that meet FSC's Principles and Criteria are available.

Indoor Environmental Quality

Credit 6.1 Controllability of Systems-Lighting

The intent of this credit is to provide a high level of lighting system control for individual occupants, and specific groups in multi-occupant spaces (e.g., classrooms and conference areas), to promote the productivity, comfort and well-being of building occupants.

Requirements
Provide lighting controls for:  At least 90% of occupants, enabling adjustments to suit individual task needs and preferences, and all shared multi-occupant spaces where transient groups must share lighting controls.

Used Office Furniture Application
When purchasing systems furniture each workstation can be equiped with task lighting so that the person utilizing that cubicle can have control of there own light for the most efficient use.

Credit 8.1 Daylight and Views

The intent of this credit is the provide the occupants with a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoors through the introduction of daylight and views into the regularly occupied areas of the tenant space.

Requirement
For at least 75% of all regularly occupied areas:

Achieve a minimum Daylight Factor of 2% (excluding all direct sunlight penetrations), or using a computer simulation model, achieve at least 25 footcandles and provide daylight redirection and/or glare control devices to ensure daylight effectiveness. Exceptions for areas where tasks would be hindered by the use of daylight will be considered on their merits.

Credit 8.2 Daylight and Views
The intent and requirements of this credit are identical to 8.1 and extend the requirement for at least 90% of all reqularly occupied areas.

Used Office Furniture Application
When desiging the layout of your space, Conklin designers can spec low height cubicle systems so that light penetration will not be effected.

Credit 1-1.4 Innovation and Design

The intent of these credits are to provide design teams and projects the opportunity to be awarded points for exceptional performance above the requirements and/or innovative performance in green building categorized not specifically addressed.  One aspect that furniture can be applied to the innovation credits is to borrow credit EQ 3.2 from the LEED-CI rating system.