[Greenbuilding] Does GreenGuard status for laminate meet LEEDS Credit in version 2.2 or for commercial interiors and Leed Clarification questions

Sat Dec 8 12:01:30 EST 2007

Good Morning;

Re: Greenguard - I think the proper question to ask would be what Plastic laminate Does NOT meet Indoor Air quality Standards.? One of the big problems is " Are we testing to insure that water is wet? "

The cover of laminate is melamine - a plastic - water does NOT penetrate. I would imagine - that gases - do NOT escape.

It certainly would be nice if we could give certain raw materials an immediate "Green" card. Why do you have to test things like glass ?

Can someone show me a fabrication of standard plastic laminate that would need to be burdened by spending tens of thousands of dollars to insure against the obvious ?

Now my observations on your question.

First - even though your laminate meets this standard - the end product would have to be tested anyway. You still have to spend the bucks. by the way IAQ is not a mandatory point.

Re the FSC: It is the end product cost - materials , labor , install - the whole product. The FSC would be calculated by the percentage of FSC vs other materials. There is a loop hole here as wide as the grand canyon. If the veneer is FSC - it may represent 3 to 6 times the cost of the other materials. You get the credit by the VALUE - not the weight . Use FSC vVeneer and regular particleobard and you will get 75-85% of the credit.

Regards,
Eugene M Lisa
407-230-4196
VerdeInterior Products
www.verdeproducts.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Peters <cpeters at osvold.com>
To: GREENBUILDING at listserv.repp.org
Sent: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 1:10 pm
Subject: [Greenbuilding] Does GreenGuard status for laminate meet LEEDS Credit in version 2.2 or for commercial interiors and Leed Clarification questions

Everyone:

Background: We are an architectural woodworking company in Minneapolis that
recently received it Chain of Custody Certificate (COC) from SGS.  We are
AWI certified; women owned business enterprise (WBE) and have been in
business since 1956. Our projects range from simple plastic laminate work
for tenant improvement to corporate headquarters, country clubs and
executive office furniture. We work with all materials and processes.

GreenGuard says that various laminates meets their standard as a suitable
green material?  Are their standards transferable towards the accumulation
of possible LEED credits? I emailed Greenguard two weeks ago and as yet they
have not answered my question. Our company will be doing a presentation to
an architectural firm in the near future and they will probably be asking
questions about laminate, Greenguard certification and possible LEED
credits.

Also, we get confusing information about what actually qualifies in the
cabinetry section for possible LEEDS credit?  We have attended three
seminars so far geared towards architectural woodworking and the green
building process. If we are using FSC materials do we count the cost of
material only, or do we count the cost of material plus labor in our
calculation for the FSC materials used. Without the labor we could not be
building cabinetry requiring FSC materials. Naturally, we would deduct the
cost of hardware and non FSC materials.

Please answer the following questions:

Does GreenGuard certification process for laminates meet LEED 2.2 credit and
LEED commercial interior standards credits?

On FSC material do we apply both the labor and material cost for our
calculation towards possible LEED credits? 

What price do we submit to the general contractor and indirectly to the
architect regarding either FSC usage for possible LEED credits?

Do we use our cost or do we use our selling price?

Often we are in a competitive bid situation to maybe five generals who in
turn might get additional bids from other millwork providers. We would like
to have an equal and consistent playing field regarding our competitors. 

Could someone give me a definitive answer that I may quote for our use in
our future presentations? Ideally, I would like a LEED certified architect
who is very familiar with the LEED process as applied to architectural
millwork section to respond.

Once again, thank you for your assistance.

Carl Peters

Osvold Company

2828 University Ave SE

Minneapolis, MN 55414

Phone 612-331-1581 ext 329

Fax 612-331-1123

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