DMA1: Materials Selection Requirements
Maximum Score
6 points
Input Method
Assessment Portal
Prefill
Eligible
Scoring method
Static
Validation
Evidence and other answer are manually validated
2026 Updates
None
Does the entity have a policy requiring that the environmental and health attributes of building materials be considered for development projects?
Assessment Instructions
Intent: What is the purpose of this indicator?
This indicator examines the entity’s strategy to understand and manage health and environmental risks associated with building material supply chains. Considering environmental and health requirements in the selection of construction materials promotes resource efficiency and limits the negative impacts of new construction. It also mitigates health risks associated with the use of harmful materials.
Input: How do I complete this indicator?
Select yes or no. If yes, select all applicable sub-options.
Terminology
Environmental Product Declarations
Products and materials for which life-cycle information is publicly available and which have positive, sustainable, life-cycle impacts. An Environmental Product Declaration should conform to ISO 14025, 14040, 14044, EN 15804 or ISO 21931, or have publicly available, critically reviewed life-cycle assessment, confirming to ISO 14044.
Health and environmental information
Fully disclosed and publicly available information about the human health and environmental impacts or characteristics of the products or materials used. (e.g., MSD sheets)
Health Product Declarations
Products and materials for which the inventory of all ingredients used is publicly available, with a full disclosure of all known hazards and associated effects.
Locally extracted or recovered
Materials that are extracted, harvested or recovered within a specified distance from the construction site.
Low-emitting VOC materials
Materials that have reduced concentrations of chemical contaminants (volatile organic compounds or VOC) that can damage air quality, human health, productivity, and the environment.
Low embodied carbon materials
Embodied carbon is the sum of all the carbon required to produce materials, considered as if that carbon was incorporated or embodied in the product itself. Also known as “low embodied energy materials.”
Materials and packaging that can be easily recycled
Materials and packaging that make are composed of elements that can be easily recycled in waste management systems.
Rapidly renewable materials
Materials made from agricultural products that are typically harvested within a 10-year or shorter cycle, such as bamboo, wool, cotton insulation, agrifiber, linoleum, wheatboard, strawboard and cork.
Red list of prohibited materials
Contains the worst in class materials prevalent in the building industry as published by the International Living Future Institute.
Recycled content materials
Products made from pre-consumer and/or post-consumer material diverted from the waste stream.
Third-party certified wood-based materials and products
Certification that encourages responsible and sustainable forest management. Certification bodies include, but are not limited to:
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC);
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC);
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).
Validation: What evidence is required?
Evidence
Evidence for this indicator will be subject to manual validation.
Depending on the selected answer options, the document upload can represent a:
Copy of the entity’s formal policy with respect to environmental and health attributes and performance of building materials, including specific information about individual requirements (e.g., red list) AND/OR
Copy of specific requirements for disclosure of health and environmental attributes from suppliers (e.g., embodied carbon, etc.) AND/OR
Copy of specific building product specifications or certificates AND/OR
Information about compliance procedures (e.g., reporting, audit, job site accountability).
Note that a checklist from a green building rating system that includes criteria for materials is not sufficient evidence. Evidence must support the implementation of a policy with clear requirements for development projects surrounding these issues. Materials specifications and requirements for operational assets are not applicable.
Other Answer
The other answer(s) provided will be subject to manual validation.
Other requirements for disclosure: state the additional types of health and environmental information that are required for disclosure when selecting building materials. Technical specifications, such as “low VOC products,” are not applicable to this other answer.
Other material characteristics specification preferences: state the additional, specific material characteristics specification that is considered when selecting building materials during development projects.
It is possible to add multiple other answers. If multiple other answers are acceptable, only one per sub-option will be counted towards scoring.
Types of third-party certification used: Specify the third-party certification required for wood-based products.
Scoring
Scoring: How does GRESB score this indicator?
The scoring of this indicator is equal to the sum of the fractions assigned to the selected options and respective sub-options, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.
Evidence: The evidence is manually validated and assigned a multiplier, according to the table below. The evidence must support the validation requirements.
If any requirements are not met, the evidence may be partially accepted or not accepted, depending on the level of alignment with the requirements.
Accepted
2/2
Partially Accepted
1/2
Not Accepted
0
Other: The 'Other' answer is manually validated and assigned a score, which is used as a multiplying factor, as per the table below:
Accepted
1/1
Not Accepted
0
Duplicate
0
References
LEED BD+C: New Construction, v4, Materials & Resources
BREEAM, International New Construction, 2016: 10 Materials
International Living Future Institute, Living Building Challenge 4.0
SCS Ecolabels, Recycled Content, V6-0 Standard
ISO 14021, Environmental labels and declarations
GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, 2016: GRI 301; 301-1; 301-2; 301-3
Get Support: Solution Providers
GRESB Solution Providers are independent, third-party organizations within the GRESB Partner network that offer specialized products, tools, and services to support sustainability performance outside the GRESB Assessment process.
Currently, there are no GRESB Solution Providers associated with this indicator.
GRESB will continue to update this section as the GRESB Solution Provider network grows. Please check back regularly to find GRESB Solution Providers who can support your sustainability performance.
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