b'GREEN TIPImportant updates to LEED EPD provisions and relevance to tileBy Bill Griese, LEED AP, Director, Standards Development & Sustainability Initiatives, Tile Council of North America, Inc.InFebruary2019,theU.S.Updates to the Credit, Building Green Building CouncilDisclosureandOptimization (USGBC) released theEnvironmentalProduct newesteditionofDeclarations(EPDs),aresub-Leadership in Energystantive. Similar to v4.0, the use andEnvironmentalof products with EPDs can earn Design(LEED),up to two points on a LEED v4.1 Version 4.1. From reviewproject. One point can be earned oftheupdatedcriteria,apriori- if enough products transparently tizedfocusonreducedcarbonreportlifecycleenvironmental pollution can quickly be observed.impacts. A second point can be This has resulted in objectives thatattainedifenoughproductsare aremoreachievablethanbefore,selectedonthebasisofopti-whichemanatefromexpandedmizedlifecycleenvironmental productlifecycleconsiderationsimpactreduction.Wherev4.1 andthataregenerallyfavorablediffersisinitsexpandedrec-for tile.ognitionofindustry-average 28 TileLetter | August 2019'