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Author Message Russell W. Wood, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: woodr5678 Post Number: 131 Registered: 11-2003 Posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 - 04:37 pm:    We are in Fort Lauderdale. I called a Miami based company 30 miles away because of their "green" product line and close proximity. However, I was told to deal with their regional rep who is in North Carolina. So the rep will fly the 900 miles here next month and then rent a car and drive the 15 miles from the airport to come meet with us. All this from a firm that is 30 miles away. Is anyone at USGBC listening? Christopher E. Grimm, CSI, CCS, LEEDŽ-AP, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 201 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 - 05:37 pm:    Hummers are 'green' too - 75% recycled content I heard the other day! they might want to check out www.gotomeeting.com Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 873 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 02:46 pm:    let's just say that at the manufacturing side, there are gross inconsistencies.... (and gross mis-understandings). the local manufactured products will still help you, and perhaps this regional guy can at least talk to several other design professionals the same trip, and you can not feel quite as guilty about that... Peggy White, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: peggy Post Number: 30 Registered: 07-2007 Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 03:48 pm:    What does this have to do with the USGBC? Your issue is with the manufacturer, who has apparently cut back on technical services. Suggest greener communication alternatives - they might even listen to you! Scott Mize Junior Member Username: scott_mize_ccs_csi Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2009 Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 04:12 pm:    I think "Is anyone at USGBC listening?" was a rhetorical question. And perhaps a plea for flexibility in how the 'local materials' credits are applied. There are always unintended consequences when an organization implements a new regulatory scheme. (And let's not kid ourselves: while still 'voluntary', LEED *is* a regulatory scheme.) Those unintended consequences sometimes make a mockery of the regulation's intent. The real questions are "cost vs. benefit" (does this regulation do more good than harm?) and "signal vs. noise" (does this regulation actually accomplish what it was intended to do?). "Enquiring minds...", etc. Your mileage may vary. Brian E. Trimble, CDT Senior Member Username: brian_e_trimble_cdt Post Number: 22 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Friday, May 01, 2009 - 03:27 pm:    Manufacturers are in business to sell products. Part of their costs of doing business are hiring sales reps to promote their products. If the reps aren't out there talking to designers they are not going to get the sale. The construction industry relies a lot personal contact. People feel better about products when they can touch them, feel them, and talk with people who can help them out understand them. While it might be nice on an altruistic level to think that these types of costs aren't necessary, they are to make businesses succeed. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1045 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, May 01, 2009 - 04:06 pm:    LEED version 3.0 (aka 2009) has reduced the proportion that regional and recycled content credits will contribute to certification. There are many more points now available for energy and resource saving measures. At the same time, the number of credits needed to get certified has risen. The net effect is that these types of materials credits will not move you as quickly to the certification goal as before. I think this is a good thing, as it emphasizes the most critical of the sustainability goals, in my opinion, and obviously in the USGBC's opinion, too. Peggy White, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: peggy Post Number: 31 Registered: 07-2007 Posted on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 - 12:45 pm:    There seems to be some confusion in this thread about the intent of the regional Credits. LEED regional credits have nothing to do with where the rep is located relative to the architect's office. Rather, the intent of these Credits have to do with where the materials are harvested and the location of the manufacturing facility relative to the project site. From LEED v2.2: "Intent: Increase demand for building materials and products that are extracted and manufactured within the region, thereby supporting the use of indigenous resources and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation." Russell W. Wood, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: woodr5678 Post Number: 134 Registered: 11-2003 Posted on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 - 01:16 pm:    I have Reps come in preaching the green benefits of linoleum flooring. Then you ask them where is the product made...and they say Holland. So if the product is on a steam ship spewing thick black smoke for 3,000 miles to get here, is it still green? Ask the pelicans.