Posts Tagged ‘RLMDS’

Do it Right or Do it Twice – by Danna Lopez CxGBS®

Jul 21, 2011 CxGBS Articles, Editorials

My father told me once, “There are two ways of doing things… Right, and Again.” I have found that statement to be true in so many aspects of life. As I work with LEED project teams to complete construction credits, I have found that the same way of thinking goes with contractor training. Either offer thorough training to the entire team in the beginning of construction, or you’ll most likely encounter hiccups along a very tedious construction documentation path, and be forced to repeat the training.

Contractor materials and construction waste training involves training the general contractor, and all subcontractors, to meet the requirements for several construction credits. Training is especially important for those who have never been involved with a LEED project – as much of the documentation they will be required to record and submit is unfamiliar.
This training should involve an overview of the requirements for the following credits:
• MRc2 – Construction Waste Management
• MRc3 – Materials Reuse
• MRc4 – Recycled Content
• MRc5 – Regional Materials
• MRc6 – Rapidly Renewable Materials
• MRc7 – Certified Wood
• IEQc4 – Low Emitting Materials

The Construction Waste Management Credit (MRc2) will require that the general contractor implement a construction waste plan (we’ll skip the details on creation of the plan), and collect waste pull tickets and hauler delivery tickets. It is important to inform the team that they must collect these tickets regularly, and ensure that required information is indicated on the tickets. As a LEED Consultant, it is important to review and verify that tickets with necessary information are being collected regularly, and keep the project team informed about the percentage of waste diverted as well as how far away they are from goal.

The Materials Credits (MRc3-7, IEQc4) will require that the general contractor, and all subcontractors, purchase materials and products that will help contribute to achievement of these credits whenever possible. Educating the team about how to look for and ask for local materials, materials with recycled content, rapidly renewable materials, and materials with certified wood, should be part of this training.

Correctly documenting the materials used on the project is one of the most important aspects of the training. To make it easier for everyone, providing the contractors with a Required LEED Material Data Sheet (RLMDS) will help make the documentation process smoother. Showing the contractor how to find this information on product information sheets (PIS) and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) will help them to find it for other materials. Indicating that this information can be written in a manufacturer letter (on manufacturer letterhead) if it cannot be found on the MSDS or PIS should be explained as well.

As a LEED consultant, regularly reviewing material submittals and RLMDSs throughout the project is in important part of the training as well. This will help to identify any mistakes or misunderstandings and if needed, repeat the training. Hopefully, if the training is implemented well and it the contractors understand what is required, this should be a painless process. It’s much easier to do it right the first time, than to have to repeat it again.

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