NEWS

LEED® for Homes: Using Building and Construction Products
from Paisley Protectives and to Achieve Certification Points

Introduction

In January of 2008, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched the LEED® for Homes rating system.  LEED® for Homes extended to the residential construction industry, a rating system similar to what had already been adopted in the commercial construction industry.  LEED® for Homes has a number of categories in which points are awarded towards the Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum certifications.  The purpose of this Technical Notes is to describe how points can be earned using building and construction products from Paisley Protectives.

LEED® for Homes

LEED® for Homes is a rating system that promotes the transformation of the mainstream homebuilding industry to more sustainable, best-practice environmental features.  LEED® for Homes defines a green home as being healthy, comfortable, durable, energy efficient and environmentally responsible.  The rating system uses eight separate, yet integrated, categories:

• Innovation and Design Processes (ID)
• Location and Linkages (LL)
• Sustainable Sites (SS)
• Water Efficiency (WE)
• Energy and Atmosphere (EA)
• Materials and Resources (MR)
• Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ)
• Awareness and Education (EA)

The strength of the LEED® for Homes program is its third-party verification through LEED® for Homes Providers and Green Raters.  Providers are local and regional organizations chosen by USGBC to provide certification to LEED® for Homes projects in their regional markets.  A Green Rater is an individual who works as part of the LEED® for Homes Provider Team to perform field inspections and performance testing.  A current list of authorized providers and more information on the LEED® for Homes program can be found at www.usgbc.org.

Certification Requirements
There are four certification levels:

• Certified (45 – 59 points)
• Silver (60 – 74 points)
• Gold (75 – 89 points)
• Platinum (90 – 136 points)

The rating system included prerequisites, i.e. mandatory measures that must be completed during the design and construction phase, minimum number of points that must be earned in some of the credit categories. There are summarized in the table below.

Potential Points for Current Paisley Protective Products

The following analysis shows examples of how Paisley Protectives building and construction products can be used to earn points under the different LEED® for Homes categories. However, USGBC certified Providers and Green Raters are responsible for awarding points. The LEED® for Homes requirements are in italics, the notes on how Paisley Protective products can be used to earn points are in plain text.

Energy and Atmosphere (EA)

Optimize Energy Performance 1.2 Exceptional Energy Performance (maximum 34 points).

Exceed the performance of ENERGY STAR for Homes.

Paisley Protectives brand Xmark housewraps and sheathing tapes are excellent choices, along with other energy-efficient features, to meet and exceed ENERGY STAR home requirements.

Air Infiltration 3.3 Minimal Envelope Leakage (3 points, not available if points received in EA 1.2)

Paisley Protectives brand Xmark housewraps and sheathing tapes are excellent choices to minimize air infiltration and leakage in the building envelope.

Materials and Resources (MR)

Material Efficient Framing 1.4 Off-Site Fabrication (4 points)

Paisley Protectives Xmark housewraps and sheathing tapes are excellent choices for use in manufactured panelized wall systems and manufactured housing.

Environmentally Preferable Products 2.2 c Local production (0.5 point per component)

Use products that were extracted, processed and manufactured with 500 mile of the home.

Xmark housewrap and roof underlayment are manufactured in Canada – contact your local representative to determine the distance from our facility to your construction project.

Waste Management 3.2 Construction Waste Reduction (maximum 3 points)

Generate 2.5 pounds or less of net waste per square foot of conditioned floor area.

Paisley Protectives Xmark housewrap and Xmark synthetic roof underlayments weigh less than traditional materials such as asphalt-saturated kraft paper or ashphalt-saturated felt and therefore are excellent ways to contribute to reduced construction waste.

Conclusion

The building and construction products from Paisley Protectives are ideally suited to help construction professionals earn LEED® for Homes certifications.  Please consult the U.S. Green Building Council for up-to-date information. The notes contained here are suggestions only and need to be verified with the USGBC.