Use Environmentally Preferable Products

by the WBDG Sustainable Committee

Last updated: 10-14-2008

Overview

The composition of materials used in a building is a major factor in its life-cycle environmental impact. Federal facilities must lead the way in the use of environmentally preferable products and processes that do not pollute or unnecessarily contribute to the waste stream, do not adversely affect health, and do not deplete limited natural resources. As the growing global economy expands the demand for raw materials, it is no longer sensible to throw away much of what we consider construction waste. Using a "cradle-to-cradle" approach, the "waste" from one generation can become the "raw material" of the next.

Executive Order 13423 "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management" consolidates several earlier executive orders and directs Federal agencies to use recycled content (see EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines and Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program.) When developing specifications, product descriptions and standards, agencies must consider a broad range of environmental factors including: waste prevention, recyclability, the use of recycled content, environmentally preferable, and bio-based products, life-cycle cost, and ultimate disposal.

During the facility design and development process, federal projects must have a comprehensive, integrated perspective that seeks to:

Renovate existing facilities, products, and equipment whenever possible, such as historic structures or used furniture;
Evaluate the environmental preferability of products using the cradle-to-cradle, life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach;
Maximize the recycled content of all new materials, especially from a post-consumer perspective;
Specify materials harvested on a sustained yield basis such as lumber from certified forests;
Encourage the use of recyclable assemblies and products that can be easily "de-constructed" at the end of their useful lives;
Limit construction debris, encourage the separation of waste streams, and encourage recycling during the construction process;
Eliminate the use of materials that pollute or are toxic during their manufacture, use, or reuse; and
Give preference to locally produced products and other products with low embodied energy content.

Recommendations

Renovate Existing Facilities, Products, and Equipment

Use reconditioned products and equipment, such as furniture, whenever economically feasible and resource efficient.
Evaluate if components of existing buildings or facilities, such as windows or metal door frames, can be incorporated in any new construction. Ensure that the windows and doors meet the new facility's security, accessibility, and energy requirements.

Evaluate Environmental Preferability Using LCA

Consider trade offs among multiple environmental impacts (e.g., global warming, resource depletion, indoor air quality) when determining environmental preferability. That is, look at the "big picture" rather than simply shifting problems from one impact to another. Employing LCA Tools like ATHENA and BEES can simplify the process and give more credible results. See WBDG Energy Analysis Tools.
Consider trade offs among life-cycle stages (i.e., raw materials acquisition, manufacturing, transportation, installation, use, and waste management) when determining environmentally preferability. That is, look at the "big picture" rather than simply shifting problems from one life-cycle stage to another.
Consider biobased products

Maximize the Recycled Content of All New Materials

Use EPA-designated recycled content products to the maximum extent practicable—required under the 42 USC §6962, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1994, Section 6002.
Purchase environmentally preferable products as described in EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program, which promotes Federal Government procurement of products and services that have reduced impacts on human health and the environment over their life cycle.
Follow the EPA's five guiding principles established to help Executive agencies identify and purchase environmentally friendly products and services.
- Environment + Price + Performance = EPP. Include environmental considerations as part of the normal purchasing process.
- Pollution Prevention. Emphasize pollution prevention as part of the purchasing process.
- Life-Cycle Perspective/Multiple Attributes. Examine multiple environmental attributes throughout the product and service's life cycle.
- Comparison of Environmental Impacts. Compare environmental impacts when selecting products and services.
- Environmental Performance Information. Collect accurate and meaningful environmental information about environmental performance of products and services.
Within an acceptable category of product, use materials and assemblies with the highest percentage available of post-consumer or post-industrial recycled content.
Within an acceptable category of product, evaluate the use of materials and assemblies with low embodied energy content.

Specify Materials Harvested on a Sustainable Yield Basis

Use timber products obtained from sustainably managed forests, certified through third-party agencies.
Evaluate the substitution of bio-based materials or products, such as agricultural-fiber sheathing, for inert or non-recycled alternatives.
Specify rapidly renewable materials that regenerate in 10 years or less, such as bamboo, cork, wool, and straw.

Encourage the Use of Recyclable Assemblies and Products

Within acceptable levels of performance, evaluate the use of de-mountable or de-constructable products and assemblies.
Establish a waste management plan in cooperation with users to encourage recycling.
Investigate providing locations at the project site for organic waste composting.

Limit Construction Debris

Require the development and implementation of a plan for sorting construction waste for recycling.
Use products and assemblies that minimize disposable packaging and storage requirements.
Consider designing a facility for deconstruction right from the beginning.

Eliminate the Use of Materials that Pollute or are Toxic During Their Manufacture, Use, or Reuse

Within an acceptable category of product, use materials and assemblies with the lowest level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). See WBDG Evaluating and Selecting Green Products.
Eliminate the use of asbestos, lead, and PCBs in all products and assemblies. See WBDG High-Performance HVAC.
Eliminate the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as refrigerants in all HVAC systems.
Evaluate the use of materials and assemblies whose manufacture does not pollute or create toxic conditions for workers. See also WBDG Secure/Safe—Ensure Occupant Safety and Health > Provide Good Indoor Air Quality and Adequate Ventilation and > Eliminate Exposure to Hazardous Materials.
Avoid Ground-level Ozone in buildings. It can contribute to health problems for the building's occupants and damages vegetation and ecosystems.

Give Preference to Locally Produced Materials with Low Embodied Energy Content

Evaluate the use of locally produced products to stimulate local economies and reduce transportation burdens.
Evaluate the use of materials and assemblies that require minimum "embodied" energy for raw materials acquisition, manufacture, transport, installation, and use.

Related Issues

Durability of Environmentally Preferable Materials

It is important that 'green' products perform the same as 'standard' products over their expected lives, therefore, it is valuable to develop a durability plan, which informs material and systems decisions assessing potential risk factors and damage functions. Once identified, measures can be made in the building design to address the risk factors. This process follows every phase from pre-design to building occupancy. Durability plans consider effects related to moisture, heat, sunlight, insects, material failure, ozone and acid rain, building function, style and natural disasters.

Balancing Sustainability and Security/Safety

To ensure that security strategies are appropriately implemented for the desired level of protection, designers are encouraged to conduct threat/vulnerability assessments and risk analysis. To prevent unnecessary use of resources in a project, include only the security measures identified by assessment and analysis. Evaluate the cost of comparable security measures before making your final decision. For high-risk and critical facilities, the increased use of materials and products is inevitable. In such cases, designers and builders are encouraged to specify and use environmentally preferable products to the maximum extent feasible. For example, as part of the Pentagon renovation work after the 9/11 terrorist attacks concrete rubble from damaged parts of the building were crushed into gravel and reused as aggregate under concrete slabs. More

Preferring Bio-based Products

Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-171, May 13, 2002) confers Federal purchasing preference to bio-based products on the basis of five criteria: environmental performance, cost performance, bio-based content, technical performance, and availability. In support of this legislation, a Federal rule was developed specifying that the USDA establish a "USDA Certified Bio-based Product" label. To qualify for the label, bio-based products must be evaluated for life-cycle environmental and cost performance by the NIST BEES tool.

Emerging Issues

Many new products have appeared on the market in recent years, all claiming to be 'green,' yet they sometimes offer little proof to back up those claims. The term 'Greenwashing' has come into vogue to describe products having unsubstantiated and misleading green characteristics. It is a challenge to specifiers and purchasers to determine the validity and relevance of environmental claims. Evaluate green products using recognized testing laboratories and test methods and read the Terrachoice article "The Six Sins of Greenwashing."

Relevant Codes and Standards

ASTM E 2129—Standard Practice for Data Collection for Sustainability Assessment of Building Products
Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA 2007) (PDF 738 KB, 310 pgs).
Executive Order 13423, "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management"
ISO 14040 Series—Life-Cycle Assessment Standards
Department of Defense:
DOD Green Procurement Program (GPP)
Green Procurement Requirements Overview
U.S. General Services Administration:
P100 Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service, 2005

Major Resources

WBDG

U.S. Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database—Created by NREL and partners, this publicly available database allows users to objectively review and compare analysis results that are based on similar data collection and analysis methods.

Use Green Products

Federal

Energy Star®, EPA
Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers—The Guide provides model language that is intended to assist users in achieving green building goals as may be determined by the individual agency and project. It is being developed by EPA with the Federal Environmental Executive and the Whole Building Design Guide.
Green Procurement Program (GPP), Defense Logistics Information Service
GSA Federal Supply Service Environmental Products and Services Guide

Magazines and E-Newsletters

Choose Green Report—Various product recommendations by GreenSeal
Environmental Building News
Environmental Design & Construction Magazine
GreenSpec™—The Environmental Building News Product Directory

Other

Green Building Resource Guide by John Hermannsson. Taunton Press, 1997.
Green Products Network
GreenSage.com—An online source for green and sustainable building materials and furnishings.
Guide to Resource Efficient Building Elements by Tracy Mumma. Missoula, MT: National Center for Appropriate Technology's Center for Resourceful Building Technology, 1997. eGuide version of book available online.
oikos® Green Building Source—Green product information
PATHNET.org—Excellent repository of building materials, case studies, and innovative techniques
A Sourcebook for Green and Sustainable Building, City of Austin Green Builder Program

Renovate Existing Facilities, Products, and Equipment

Case study: NAVFAC Building 33

Evaluate Environmental Preferability Using LCA

BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability), NIST—BEES measures the environmental performance of building products by using the life-cycle assessment approach specified in ISO 14000 standards.
Environmental Impact Estimator, Athena Institute—The Estimator lets designers assess the environmental implications of industrial, institutional, office, and both multi-unit and single-family residential designs: new construction or renovation.
Environmental Resource Guide by The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Joseph A. Demkin (Editor). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.

Maximize the Recycled Content of All New Materials

Specify Materials Harvested on a Sustained Yield Basis

Forest Certification Resource Center
Forest Stewardship Council United States (FSC)
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS)
SmartWood (SW)
Sustainable Forestry Initiative, American Forest & Paper Association

Limit Construction Debris

California Integrated Waste Management Board
Case study: EPA New England Regional Laboratory
Construction and Demolition Debris, EPA
Construction Waste Management Database, GSA—The Database contains information on companies that haul, collect and process recyclable debris from construction projects. Created in 2002 by GSA's Environmental Strategies and Safety Division to promote responsible waste disposal, the Database is a free online service for those seeking companies that recycle construction debris in their area.
Municipal Solid Waste Management, EPA
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center—Construction Waste Management
Department of Defense:
UFC 1-900-01 Selection of Methods for the Reduction, Reuse and Recycling of Demolition Waste
Public Works Technical Bulletins, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
PWTB 200-1-23 Guidance for the Reduction of Demolition Waste Through Reuse and Recycling
PWTB 200-1-27 Reuse of Concrete Materials From Building Demolition
PWTB 420-49-30 Alternatives to Demolition for Facility Reduction
Residential Construction Waste Management: A Builder's Field Guide by Peter Yost and Eric Lund. National Association of Home Builders Research Center, January 1997.
WasteSpec: Model Specifications for Construction Waste Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling by Triangle J Council of Governments.

Others

FedCenter.gov—FedCenter, the Federal Facilities Environmental Stewardship and Compliance Assistance Center, is a collaborative effort between the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, and the U.S. EPA Federal Facilities Enforcement Office. FedCenter replaces the previous FedSite as a one-stop source of environmental stewardship and compliance assistance information focused solely on the needs of federal government facilities.
Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding
GSA LEED® Applications Guide
GSA LEED® Cost Study
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC):
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System

Use Environmentally Preferable Products

Overview

Recommendations

Renovate Existing Facilities, Products, and Equipment

Evaluate Environmental Preferability Using LCA

Maximize the Recycled Content of All New Materials

Specify Materials Harvested on a Sustainable Yield Basis

Encourage the Use of Recyclable Assemblies and Products

Limit Construction Debris

Eliminate the Use of Materials that Pollute or are Toxic During Their Manufacture, Use, or Reuse

Give Preference to Locally Produced Materials with Low Embodied Energy Content

Related Issues

Durability of Environmentally Preferable Materials

Balancing Sustainability and Security/Safety

Preferring Bio-based Products

Emerging Issues

Relevant Codes and Standards

Major Resources

WBDG

Building / Space Types

Design Objectives

Products and Systems

Project Management

Tools

Use Green Products

Federal

Magazines and E-Newsletters

Other

Renovate Existing Facilities, Products, and Equipment

Evaluate Environmental Preferability Using LCA

Maximize the Recycled Content of All New Materials

Specify Materials Harvested on a Sustained Yield Basis

Limit Construction Debris

Others