They're elegable for the credit, they just don't understand what they're asking for. MEP is exclude from the total and recycled material cost because of the mountain of paper required to document and count each piece that goes into the building. Most of MEP materials are steel, which has a high recycled content, so why bother to document it. (And what exactly are our options to increase this number in the MEP trades?)
Most projects with structural steel manage to get the first point for this credit by counting this steel. Steel in the US has an average % that is recycled and you can use the data provided by the supplier.
(Cost of building steel) * (manufacturer recycled content percentage) / (total building material cost excluding MEP) = Recycled content
Other ways to boost the number is to look at concrete, drywall, carpet, ceiling tiles, insulation, etc.
It is an option to add MEP items if they want but they can't just add some pipes from MEP trades to increase their numbers. If any plumbing materials are added to the calculation then all plumbing materials have to be added. If any electrical materials are added to the calculation then all electrical materials have to be added.
