LEED FAQ
The LEED definition of pre-consumer material is: “Material diverted from the waste stream
during the manufacturing process. Excluded is reutilization of materials such as rework, regrind or
scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process that
generated it.”
Example: Wooden saw dust and saw chips used in a completely different process such as making
particle board. 
The LEED definition of post-consumer material is: “Waste material generated by
household or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the
product, which can no longer be used for its intended purpose.”
Example: Aluminum Soda cans or Aluminum Transmission housings being melted down and used
in secondary aluminum billet.
The LEED definition is: “Building materials or products that have been extracted, harvested
or recovered, as well as manufactured, within 500 miles of the project site.”
EFCO can not guarantee that our raw material is recovered from within 500 miles of the job site, but
we can guarantee that it is recovered from within 500 miles of the manufacturing facility. This in
itself is a green building practice and beats a lot of our competition. One major competitor in
particular’s standard practice is to use Virgin metal and must “buy out” secondary billet for use in
LEED projects. 
It would be possible for EFCO to fill out a portion of the customer’s LEED form, thereby
creating more questions about the form and what they are to do with it. EFCO’s position is to use
the filling out of LEED forms as an opportunity to educate our customers on LEED and their
responsibilities. The main topic of concern generally centers around cost. The LEED standard
refers to this as “recycled content value” which is “the value of a material assembly”. This is then
compared to the total value of all materials used in the project. EFCO’s sale value is not the value
to be used in this formula. The customer must pass on the value of the material sold minus any
labor or tools for the installation. EFCO’s job specific LEED letter includes all the information
needed to aid the customer in filling out the LEED form and can be referenced as the legal
document to support the submittal.
Yes, all service center material qualifies for LEED recycled content credit. A letter similar to our regular production job specific letters can be supplied on service center material projects.
The LEED standard only refers to sealants, adhesives, paints and coatings, that are applied “On Site”. These credits would apply to materials used during installation, not during manufacturing.
The short answer is no. The long answers are:
1. Recycled content, within LEED, is valued by weight. Finish, hardware, screws and other
small parts, are an insignificant part of the overall assembly weight, and not worthy of
creating a submittal for them. Secondly, EFCO does not manufacture most of those types of
parts. The feasibility in gaining the required information from every possible supplier is not
comparable to the very small value the materials would be worth.
2. Recently, major glass manufactures have provided written statements clarifying their use of
recycled content. Based on this information, float glass used in fenestration is basically
made from virgin material (silica) and re-processed scrap and breakage (cullet). The
revised definitions of recycled content within the LEED standard, exclude materials that
result from a manufacturing process and are then cycled back into the same process. 
In contrast to some of our major competitors, EFCO does not specify primary aluminum billet (virgin metal) or secondary aluminum billet (recycled metal) to be used when either painting or anodizing. Our in house finishing expertise has provided both quality painted finishes and anodized finishes for decades using both primary and secondary billet.
The short answer is no. The long answer is: In order to assure an uninterrupted inventory of aluminum billet, we source it from two separate suppliers. One source supplies 65% of our needs with secondary billet. EFCO employs an auditable process to assure that all LEED identified projects utilize our inventory of secondary billet. However, the use of recycled content aluminum is a standard practice for EFCO. We do not special order or source material outside of our standard inventory to meet LEED standards. Our everyday use of secondary billet on LEED projects and non LEED projects is a much more GREEN practice than some of our competitors.
Yes. When attempting to gain points in the regional material portion of the standard, the product in question must be, not only manufactured from within 500 miles, but must also be made from materials that are “extracted”, “harvested” or “recovered” from within the same 500 miles. Aluminum is not a material that generally qualifies for being “extracted” or “harvested” domestically, but could be considered a “recovered” material. The manufacturer must prove that they are using recycled material first and then prove that it is recovered from within 500 miles of the project site.
Yes we do. Contact the marketing department and we can arrange your access to it.
This is difficult to answer because the burden of proof for the manufacturer is difficult. Here is a breakdown of EFCO’s situation that could be compared to our competitors. EFCO buys secondary billet from Hydro aluminum, which is a quarter of a mile from our facility in southwest Missouri, they have confirmed to us in writing to us that they “recover” scrap from within 500 miles of their plant, which is a good practice, but does not allow us to use it as a supporting document for the regional material credit because the material must be confirmed as being recovered from within 500 miles of the project site. It would be hard to imagine any manufacturer in our industry being able to provide anything more than we can. So, even though EFCO has a green story to tell with respect to regional stewardship, we technically don’t meet the requirements of the standard to help gain credit.
Per the 2009 edition of the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, window applications must meet an STC rating of at least 35. Contact our Product Technical Support Department for product applications and details when this requirement is specified.
Photovoltaic cells, when located in spandrel areas can generally be glazed into any framing system without coordination with the framing system, similar to glass or panels. Some of the newest innovations in photovoltaic glazing are made for vision areas and could require coordination of the wiring within the framing and must be UL approved. EFCO does not currently have UL listings for these types of applications, and would have to review the requirement on a job by job basis.
It it important to first understand that products by themselves do not achieve points. Only a building can obtain points and does so by utilizing products and construction methods that reduce energy, manages water usage, incorporates recycled materials or takes advantage of local materials, etc. In the case of using a specific product versus another, for example: the energy performance benefits of one product might help meet the requirements for the buildings energy usage reduction, but cannot do so all by its self. It is only part of the overall strategy to reduce the building energy needs. In the beginning design of a building, the architect and mechanical engineer must calculate the base line energy usage of the building as it is designed. Secondly, they evaluate and determine what areas can be improved to help achieve the needed points in that area of the standard to help get to the desired certification level. This can be a very deep and involved process. It is usually done prior to the specifications being written and because of wall construction, percentage of vision wall vs non vision wall, climate zone etc. is quite different for each project.
The best way to fully understand the concept of how points are achieved is by researching the LEED standard. A simple explanation is written our on our LEED submittal letter.
The fraction weight is the Aluminum portion of the overall shipping weight.
The assembly cost is the total sell price of the product excluding installation labor.