About LEED®

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. The rating system is developed and continuously refined via an open, consensus-based process that has made LEED the green building standard of choice for Federal agencies and state and local governments nationwide.

The US Green Building Council or Canadian Green Building Council certifies buildings, not the materials that are used to construct the building.

Although building materials themselves cannot be LEED certified, products and services meeting certain
criteria do play a significant role by helping buildings in achieving certification.

There are numerous classifications of buildings or construction types and they would be rated accordingly.
Depending on the points obtained the building would be rated as follows:
Certified 26-32 points, Silver 33-38 points, Gold 39-51 points, Platinum 52-70 points.

SofTILE® AP may contribute towards certification points as follows:

• MR Credit 4.1 and 4.2 for Recycled Content. A builder may be able to obtain up to 2 points under this area. Those who purchase the material would be able to use a weighed calculation: simply having the value of post-industrial and post-consumer content. The purpose of this credit is to stimulate the recycling market.
• MR Credit 5.1 and 5.2 for the Point of Manufacture and Source of Raw Materials. Depending on the location of the sale, the builder may be able to obtain up to 2 points if they are within 500 miles of the point of manufacture and source of raw materials for SofTILE®.
• MR Credit 2.1 and 2.2 Construction Waste Management. A builder may be able to obtain up to 1 point for the diversion of contract waste from landfill. Tile scrap can be returned to manufacturer for re-use in the manufacture of new tile.
• SS Credit 7.2 for Heat Island Effect. A builder may be able to obtain up to 1 point for an installed “green” vegetated roof for at least 50% of the roof area. Although our product is not on its own considered a vegetated roof, our product is being used for many green roof applications.

For further information contact the LEED Customer Service at 202-742-3780 or leedinfo@usgbc.org
Additional information can be obtained by visiting the following sites. http://www.cagbc.org/ OR http://www.usgbc.org/.