7.5 PBT Source Reduction and Furniture Material

Why PBT Chemicals Are Singled Out

Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic (PBT) chemicals are pollutants identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Stockholm Convention that resist environmental degradation, build up in tissues over time, and pose long-term human-health risks. The MR category includes credits that explicitly reduce three of the most common building-related PBTs — mercury, lead, and cadmium — plus copper (added because of aquatic toxicity from copper roofing and copper plumbing leachate).

These credits apply to building types where occupant vulnerability and material quantities are highest: Healthcare projects (newborns, immunocompromised patients) and, for mercury, Schools (children).

MR Credit: PBT Source Reduction — Mercury (1 point)

Applies to: BD+C Healthcare, BD+C Schools

Intent: Reduce mercury releases associated with the manufacture, installation, operation, maintenance, and disposal of lamps.

Requirements: Specify lamps that meet a project-weighted average mercury content limit. The most common path uses a calculation expressed in picograms of mercury per lumen-hour (pg Hg/lm-hr) weighted by lamp count and rated life. LED lamps generally contain no mercury and easily satisfy the credit; older T8 and T5 fluorescents need to be low-mercury (typically TCLP-compliant).

MR Credit: PBT Source Reduction — Lead, Cadmium, and Copper (1-2 points)

Applies to: BD+C Healthcare

Intent: Reduce releases of lead, cadmium, and copper to the indoor and outdoor environment through substitution in building products.

Sample requirements:

Points scale with the breadth of substitution; achieving substitution across all major listed categories typically earns the full 2 points.

MR Credit: Furniture and Medical Furnishings (1-2 points)

Applies to: BD+C Healthcare

Intent: Promote furniture and medical furnishings that minimize exposure to toxic chemicals and source materials responsibly.

Requirements: At least 30% by cost of the total furniture and medical furnishings on the project (permanently installed and movable) must meet one or more of these criteria:

• Multi-attribute sustainability certification — for example, ANSI/BIFMA e3 Level 2 or higher, Cradle to Cradle Silver or higher, or equivalent.
• Salvaged, refurbished, or reused content above a threshold.
• Recycled content that meets the BPDO recycled content rule (post-consumer + ½ pre-consumer ≥ 25%).
• Bio-based content certified to the USDA BioPreferred program or Sustainable Agriculture Network's Sustainable Agriculture Standard.
• FSC-certified wood for any wood components.
• Material ingredient disclosure via HPD, Declare, C2C, or Product Lens.

A second point is available at a higher threshold (often 60% by cost) or for a deeper combination of criteria.

Which Credits Apply to Which Rating System?

Not every MR credit applies to every BD+C project. The applicability table below summarizes the headline cases.

Exam Cue

If a question says "a LEED BD+C: NC office tower wants to specify low-lead plumbing fittings," the project can adopt the strategy but cannot earn the PBT Lead/Cadmium/Copper credit — that credit only exists in Healthcare. The point-bearing path in NC is Building Product Disclosure and Optimization — Material Ingredients (Section 7.3).