What is LEED®?
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
Who Uses LEED®?
Architects, engineers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders and government officials all use LEED to help transform the built environment to sustainability. State and local governments across the country are adopting LEED for public-owned and public-funded projects; there are LEED initiatives in federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Energy, and State; and LEED projects are in progress in 41 different countries, including Canada, Brazil, Mexico and India.
How Can Allan Block Products Help Your Project Achieve LEED® Credits?
The LEED rating system is based on points enabling the evaluation of the overall performance of a green project by assessing each of the materials and systems used. The number of points earned on a project will determine its level of LEED certification.
The chart below shows some of the points possible when building with Allan Block products. The number of actual points and credits granted may vary by project, product used, and/or product manufacturer.
Sustainable Sites | ||||
Credit | Description | Allan Block's Relevance | Points | |
Credit 1 | Site Selection |
Avoid development of inappropriate sites and reduce the environmental impacts from the location of a building on a site. |
Using a retaining wall can minimize the overall footprint of a building or other elements to a site. |
1 |
Credit 5.1 | Site Development - Protect or Restore Habitat |
Conserve existing natural areas and restore damaged areas to provide habitat and promote biodiversity. |
Using a retaining wall can minimize the overall footprint of a building or other elements to a site. |
1 |
Credit 5.2 | Maximize Open Space | Provide a high ration of open space to development footprint to promote biodiversity. |
Using a retaining wall can minimize the overall footprint of a building or other elements to a site. |
1 |
Credit 6.1 | Stormwater Design - Quantity Control | Limit disruption of natural water hydrology by reducing impervious cover,increasing on-site infiltration, reducing or eliminating pollution from stormwater runoff, and eliminating contaminants. |
Allan Block retention ponds can minimize or mitigate impervious surfaces. |
1 |
Credit 6.2 | Stormwater Design - Quality Control | Limit the disruption and pollution of natural water flows by managing stormwater runoff. |
Allan Block retention ponds can minimize or mitigate the storm water effects of impervious surfaces. |
1 |
Credit 7.1 | Heat Island Effect - Non-Roof | Reduce heat islands (thermal gradient differences between developed and underdeveloped areas) to minimize impact on microclimate and human and wildlife habitat. |
Typically concrete products (especially with light colors) have an SRI index higher than 29. |
1 |
Materials and Resources | ||||
Credit | Description | Allan Block's Relevance | Points | |
Credit 2.1 | Construction Waste Management - Divert 50% From Disposal | Divert construction, demolition and land-clearing debris from disposal in landfills and incinerators. Redirect recyclable recovered resources back to the manufacturing process. Redirect reusable materials to appropriate sites. |
Because this is a concrete product, an existing Allan Block wall can be dismantled, crushed and recycled. |
1 |
Credit 2.2 | Construction Waste Management - Divert 75% From Disposal | Divert construction, demolition and land-clearing debris from disposal in landfills and incinerators. Redirect recyclable recovered resources back to the manufacturing process. Redirect reusable materials to appropriate sites. |
Because this is a concrete product, an existing Allan Block wall can be dismantled, crushed and recycled. |
1 |
Credit 3.1 | Materials Reuse - 5% | Reuse building materials and products in order to reduce demand for virgin materials and to reduce waste, thereby reducing impacts associated with extraction and processing of virgin resources. |
Because this is a mortarless segmental retaining wall, an existing Allan Block wall can be dismantled and the blocks can be reused and restacked into a different wall. |
1 |
Credit 3.2 | Material Reuse - 10% | Reuse building materials and products in order to reduce demand for virgin materials and to reduce waste, thereby reducing impacts associated with extraction and processing of virgin resources. |
Because this is a mortarless segmental retaining wall, an existing Allan Block wall can be dismantled and the blocks can be reused and restacked into a different wall. |
1 |
Credit 4.1 | Recycled Content - 10% (post-consumer + ½ pre-consumer) | Increase demand for building products that incorporate recycled content materials, thereby reducing impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin resources. |
Allan Block products can be made using recycled materials. |
1 |
Credit 4.2 | Recycled Content - 20% (post-consumer + ½ pre-consumer) | Increase demand for building products that incorporate recycled content materials, thereby reducing impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin resources. |
Allan Block products can be made using recycled materials. |
1 |
Credit 5.1 | Regional Materials - 10% Extracted, Processed and Manufactured Regionally | Increase demand for building materials and products that are extracted and manufactured with in the region, thereby supporting the use of indigenous resources and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation. |
Typically like most concrete products, Allan Block products are extracted, processed and manufactured within 500 miles of the project. |
1 |
Credit 5.2 | Regional Materials - 20% Extracted, Processed and Manufactured Regionally | Increase demand for building materials and products that are extracted and manufactured with in the region, thereby supporting the use of indigenous resources and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation. |
Typically like most concrete products, Allan Block products are extracted, processed and manufactured within 500 miles of the project. |
1 |
Innovation & Design Process | ||||
Credit | Description | Allan Block's Relevance | Points | |
Credit 1.1 | Innovation in Design - Structural Advantages | To provide design teams and projects the opportunity to be awarded points for exceptional performance above the requirements set by the LEED for New Construction Green Building Rating System and/or innovative performance in Green Building categories not specifically addressed by the LEED for New Construction Green Building Rating System. |
There are various credits and aspects of New Construction projects which use Allan Block products that help the project qualify for Innovation in Design points. |
1 |
Credit 1.2 | Innovation in Design - Life-Cycle Benefits | To provide design teams and projects the opportunity to be awarded points for exceptional performance above the requirements set by the LEED for New Construction Green Building Rating System and/or innovative performance in Green Building categories not specifically addressed by the LEED for New Construction Green Building Rating System. |
The long life expectancy and low maintenance requirements of the Allan Block products reduces long-term environmental impacts as compared to those of less durable products. |
1 |
Regional Priority Credits | ||||
Credit | Description | Allan Block's Relevance | Points | |
RPC | Regional Priority Credits (RPCs) | The concept of RPCs was introduced in LEED 2009 to incentivize the achievement of credits that address specific regional environmental priorities. RPCs are not new LEED credits, but instead are existing credits that local USGBC and regional councils have designated as being a priority for their areas. Each area has up to six RPCs per rating system. The incentive to achieve the credits is in the form of a bonus point, which is added to the project's total. |
Since these are not new credits, these typically consist of increased levels of conformance over and above the existing credits. Allan Block may contribute to these in the manners discussed within each credit. |
Up to 4 |
The information in the charts above was taken from the LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations Manual distrbuted by the U.S. Green Building Council.