AttainingLEEDCreditswithBiobasedProductsinFederal.pdfVIP

Attaining LEED Credits with Biobased Products in Federal Buildings There are numerous examples of the successful integration of biobased materials within the built environment throughout the residential, commercial, industrial and governmental sectors. The case studies outlined below focus only on government projects, although many similar studies within other sectors can be found online and in print. Two good resources are the Green Building Project Search and the section on rapidly renewable materials in the BuildingGreen web site. For federal buildings, there are a few noteworthy examples of the successful integration of biobased products, both in the achievement of the Materials and Resources Credit 6 (MR 6) as well as additional credits. In many cases, low VOC paints and adhesives were also utilized, but it was not clear whether or not those were biobased materials. If not, this represents a simple way for biobased products to be further integrated into the built environment. Weather Forecast Office The Weather Forecast Office in Caribou, ME is one example of a project that met the MR 6 requirements. This was achieved through the use of pressed strawboard for all the built-in cabinetry, rapidly renewable acoustical ceiling tiles, and composite wood. In addition to MR 6, the use of the low-emitting composite wood helped with the achievement of Indoor Environmental Quality Credit 4 (IEQ 4). Potomac Yards 1 and 2 Potomac Yards 1 and 2 in Arlington, VA is another example of a project that successfully incorporated biobased products toward credit achievements other then MR 6. The project used a wide range of biobased products and materials including composite wood, corn-based fabric, rice hulls and bamboo. In fact, almost 83% of the wood used was certified, allowing the