LEED Materials and Resources Cycles 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes 'design for disassembly' as it relates to LEED Materials and Resources?
- Using adhesive bonding to permanently join dissimilar materials
- Specifying building systems with mechanical fasteners and modular joints to enable future material recovery (Correct answer)
- Designing buildings to be demolished quickly
- Selecting materials based solely on initial purchase cost
Correct answer: Specifying building systems with mechanical fasteners and modular joints to enable future material recovery
Design for disassembly uses mechanical connections and modular assemblies so building components can be separated and recovered for reuse at end of building life.
Question 2: A building owner wants to meet LEED's Facility Maintenance and Renovation policy requirement. What must the policy address?
- Only energy efficiency upgrades during renovation
- Sustainable purchasing of ongoing consumables and waste management for future renovation projects (Correct answer)
- Building automation system upgrades only
- Annual staff training on recycling procedures only
Correct answer: Sustainable purchasing of ongoing consumables and waste management for future renovation projects
The LEED O+M Facility Maintenance and Renovation policy must cover sustainable purchasing criteria and waste management practices that will apply to future renovation and maintenance activities.
Question 3: In LEED's Material Ingredients credit, what does a 'Health Product Declaration' (HPD) disclose?
- A product's energy consumption during manufacturing
- Hazardous chemical content and health hazard information for a building product (Correct answer)
- Worker safety records at the manufacturing facility
- A product's thermal resistance value
Correct answer: Hazardous chemical content and health hazard information for a building product
An HPD discloses all chemical ingredients in a product above a defined threshold and flags those with known health hazards based on authoritative hazard lists.
Question 4: Which of the following material streams, if included in a construction waste management plan, would be classified as 'commingled' recycling?
- Separate bins for cardboard, metal, and concrete sorted on-site
- All recyclable materials collected in a single container for sorting at a materials recovery facility (Correct answer)
- Hazardous waste separated from general construction debris
- Wood waste chipped on-site for mulch
Correct answer: All recyclable materials collected in a single container for sorting at a materials recovery facility
Commingled recycling collects multiple recyclable material streams in a single container; sorting happens off-site at a materials recovery facility (MRF).
Question 5: How does LEED v4 treat furniture and furnishings in the Materials and Resources credits for BD+C projects?
- Furniture is always excluded from all materials credits
- Furniture is excluded by default but may be included if the project team consistently applies it across all materials credits (Correct answer)
- Furniture must be included and counts at 200% value
- Only built-in furniture qualifies; freestanding furniture is always excluded
Correct answer: Furniture is excluded by default but may be included if the project team consistently applies it across all materials credits
LEED v4 allows furniture and furnishings to be included in materials calculations as long as they are included consistently across all materials credits where they are relevant.
Question 6: A project achieves a 60% construction waste diversion rate by weight but only 40% by volume. Which metric does LEED use to determine compliance?
- LEED requires compliance by volume only
- LEED requires compliance by weight only
- The project team may choose to report by weight or volume, and must declare the method in the waste management plan (Correct answer)
- LEED averages weight and volume percentages
Correct answer: The project team may choose to report by weight or volume, and must declare the method in the waste management plan
LEED allows project teams to track and report diversion by either weight or volume, but the chosen method must be declared upfront and applied consistently throughout the project.
Question 7: Which statement about 'whole-building life-cycle assessment' (LCA) is correct under LEED v4 Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction?
- It compares the proposed building's structural and enclosure impacts against a baseline building of identical size and function (Correct answer)
- It measures only the operational energy carbon footprint of the building
- It requires all materials in the building to have individual EPDs
- It is limited to assessing the foundation and structural frame only
Correct answer: It compares the proposed building's structural and enclosure impacts against a baseline building of identical size and function
LEED's whole-building LCA credit requires comparing the proposed design's structural and enclosure life-cycle impacts (e.g., global warming potential) against a code-compliant baseline building of the same program and location.
LEED Materials and Resources Cycles 5
Which of the following best describes 'design for disassembly' as it relates to LEED Materials and Resources?