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LEED Certification

LEED certification is a process that rewards sustainable and environmentally friendly decisions that are part of your construction process. It is a way to demonstrate that certain environmental goals have been achieved during the design and construction of the structure or facility that is being certified. To be certified, the building project needs to obtain certain points and meet green building standards. A LEED certified building can qualify to obtain specific state and local government incentives.

How Many LEED Rating Systems Are Available
The latest LEED rating system consists of 5 different areas addressing multiple projects:
  • Building Design and Construction
  • Interior Design and Construction
  • Building Operations and Maintenance
  • Neighborhood Development
  • Homes
These 5 areas are then broken into smaller components where points are given and depending on a number of points received they can obtain one of the following categories:
  • CERTIFIED 40-49 Points
  • SILVER 50-59 Points
  • GOLD 60-79 Points
  • PLATINUM 80+ Points
This rating system can be implemented in both, new construction and existing buildings. 
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Glass Fiber Reinforced Products help earn credits as they are sustainable and earth friendly products.
Leed Certification

Benefits from LEED Certification?

Having your building certified under LEED will reduce your building's operation and maintenance costs while creating a better indoor environment for all building users. Additional benefits of LEED Certification include:

  • Increased Building Valuation

  • Reduced liability

  • Reduced energy and water usage

  • Better indoor air quality

  • Reduced maintenance and operation costs

  • Reduced construction waste during the process

  • Reduced 'sick building' syndrome

Materials and Resources

MR Credit 2.1 and 2.2: Construction Waste Management

  • Most UP products are custom molded to size which results in minimal job site cutting and waste. Efficient packaging design minimizes waste and makes best use of post-consumer materials that can be reused at the job site or recycled by local businesses. These result in a reduction in construction waste diverted to landfills.

MR Credit 4.1 and 4.2: Recycled Content

  • Recycled content in UP products is calculated in accordance to the International Standards Organization standard ISO 14021- Environmental Labels and Declarations referenced in most recent versions of LEED rating systems.

  • Because UP's products are custom made for a broad range of applications, and supplied in a variety of materials and finishes, recycled content will vary from 10% to 20%. An accurate disclosure of recycled content for use in a given LEED project can be made upon submission of a detailed description of application, finish, or project drawings.

MR Credit 5.1 and 5.2: Regional Materials

  • Depending on the materials chosen (GFRG, GFRC, FRP, and the associated materials used in the material formulation), the location of the project site, and the UP manufacturing facility involved in the manufacture of products, this credit may apply. UP will work with a LEED project team to help make this determination.

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Indoor Environmental Quality

EQ Credit 4.1 Low-Emitting Materials: Adhesive and Sealants

  • When required, the following national brands of construction adhesives are recommended for on-site installation use: 

  • Locite, Power Grab Acrylic Latex Adhesive (VOC Content= 0 g/l)

  • Henkel, No More Nails Acrylic Latex Adhesive (VOC Content= 0 g/l)

EQ Credit 4.2 Low Emitting Materials: Paints and Coatings

  • Unless otherwise specified, factory painted parts for LEED projects (if ordered) have the following broadly distributed low VOC coatings, or are recommended for on-site use.

  • Primer Sealers:

  • ICI Dulux Lifemaster White (VOC Content= 0 g/l)

  • Benjamin Moore Eco-Spec White (VOC Content= 0 g/l)

  • Non-Flat Paints: ICI Dulux Lifemaster Eggshell White (VOC Content= 0 g/l)

  • Benjamin Moore Eco-Spec Semi-Gloss White (VOC Content= 0 g/l)

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There are other important environmental benefits associated with the use of UP's products not included in LEED rating systems. For example, compared to the traditional alternatives, UP products use less raw material (typically less than 50% as compared to drywall and plaster assemblies). Our high-strength and lightweight composite material requires less support framing, thereby extending the reduced use of raw materials beyond the actual UP products themselves, but to the requisite framing materials otherwise needed for the installation of the traditional alternatives.

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