LEED practitioners are often asked if LEED certification is worth pursuing. However, there is never a straight answer to this question. When building owners approach a project, they must ask themselves many questions. Where will we locate our new building? How much space do we need? How will we finance the project? Who will we hire to design and build the project? What will the building look like? These questions have very definitive answers. Other questions asked during the decision-making process take longer to answer. How much will it cost? How long will it take to design and build the facility? These answers may be less definitive until enough information can be generated on which to base the decision. Asking the question about whether to pursue LEED certification and whether the certification will be worth the effort are questions that can only be answered on a case-by-case basis.
The Basis for Certification
Some building owners choose to follow the LEED rating system but never certify the building. Those who have followed this path feel that they reap all of the benefits of following the rating system and avoid the cost associated with actual certification. Before making the decision to pursue actual LEED certification, building owners may want to ascertain how they will benefit from following through with the entire process. Many owners of LEED certified buildings often cite the following reasons as justification for pursuing LEED certification:
- The prestige of having a LEED certified building
- Marketing opportunities
- Achieving energy efficiency
- Having a building that promotes a healthy working environment for employees
- The ability to measure the results of the owner’s sustainability efforts
- Compliance with a municipal mandate
Validating the design and construction of a project using the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rat system is unique to each organization. However, there is one thing that all building owners who have chosen to certify their project have in common: their motivation to certify made sense or addressed a need. If using sustainability and certification does not make sense for an organization, then simply put, it is not a sustainable solution.
An Integrated Process
The LEED rating system approaches projects through a multidisciplinary, integrated process. It is almost impossible to explore the opportunity of achieving any LEED prerequisite or credit without analyzing how that decision may influence all of the other aspects of a project. A design team may use the requirements of the LEED prerequisites and credit points as a guide, but understanding the impacts and interconnectivity by going through the full process of documenting the credit is another issue entirely. It is easy to say that a guideline is being followed, but documenting that the project team has followed all of the necessary steps and the prerequisite or credit requirements have been met throughout the entire design and construction process is much more difficult. An example of this complexity can be found with
Indoor Environmental Quality Credit 5 (IEQc5): Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control. This credit requires the designers to incorporate a number of items into the design, including the following:
- An entryway system that is at least 10 feet long must be incorporated in the primary direction of travel at each primary entrance to the building.
- Rooms in which hazardous chemicals (including housekeeping supplies) are stored or mixed must meet several parameters:
- The rooms must be ventilated directly to the outside of the building.
- The rooms must have sealed, deck-to-deck partitions.
- Doors to the rooms must be self-closing, and the rooms must be able to maintain a negative pressure with respect to surrounding spaces.
- All mechanical equipment must accommodate MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) 13 rated filter, and those filters must be on both the supply and return sides of the ventilation equipment.
It may be relatively easy to place a walk-off mat system at the front door. However, documenting that all of the individual requirements of this credit havebeen met and demonstrating to the LEED reviewer’s satisfaction that the design contains all of the required elements and the contractor has constructed the building to meet the plans and specifications requires a much greater effort.
Even more effort must be expended to understand how the decision to pursue this credit is interconnected to other aspects of the building. A 10-foot-long entryway system can pose challenges to a design team striving for a certain aesthetic in a building’s entrance. Construction details indicating deck-to-deck partitions must be included in the drawings, and the mechanical design must take into account the need to exhaust these rooms to the outside of the building. A MERV 13-rated filter will affect the energy needed to power fans within the ventilation system, and the owner’s facility management department must understand the additional cost of the high-efficiency filters. Is it worth going through all of this effort to gain one LEED credit point? It depends. If it is important to the building owner to provide a high-quality indoor environment for those who occupy and visit the building, then pursuing this LEED credit is definitely worth the effort.
Is It Worth It?
There are no easy answers when it comes to LEED. More often than not, questions asked about LEED can only be answered with the phrase, “It depends.” A good example is a question pertaining to electricity use in LEED certified facilities. Designs that comply with LEED Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite 1 (EAp1): Minimum Energy Performance will show a minimum amount of energy savings, but savings beyond this minimum will be dependent on the overall design and operation of the building. Another common question is whether a LEED certified building will provide a healthier environment for employees. It depends on the design team and the contractors. The design team has to include all of the elements that contribute to enhanced indoor environmental quality, and the contractors must effectively utilize a low-emitting strategy. But one of the biggest questions asked by facility owners is whether LEED certification will add more cost to their projects. That depends on the experience of the delivery team and the elements that were included in the building before making the decision to pursue certification.
So, is getting your project LEED certified worth the effort? Before answering this question and deciding whether to certify, engage a project team that is experienced with and knowledgeable about the LEED system and the certification process so they can better inform you of how your company would benefit from LEED certification.
Thomas Taylor, a 29-year veteran of the construction industry and noted expert on sustainability, is the general manager of St. Louis-based Vertegy. His recent book, “Guide to LEED 2009: Estimating and Preconstruction Strategies,” provides step-by-step information about the LEED 2009 for New Construction process. To learn more about Vertegy or Taylor’s new book, visit www.vertegyconsultants.com for more information.
