LEED Building Program

The LEED™ Building Certification Program - An Overview

Summary

LEED™, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the fastest growing movement to hit the construction industry in a very long time. LEED is a program of the U.S. Green Building Council which that certifies buildings as being "green." Energy Ace, Inc. provides LEED Consulting and Building Commissioning. Click here if you'd like to receive updates.

LEED has become the recognized standard for benchmarking sustainable, green building design. LEED is more than simply an energy program because it awards points for many other aspects of green building design, such as water efficiency, use of recycled materials, minimizing light pollution, reducing heat islands, and more. At the end of 2001 there were 13 certified projects and over 200 registered projects in 34 states and six countries. At the end of 2002 there were 38 certified projects (yellow on the map), over 600 registered (green) in 48 states and seven countries. In the Southeast, Georgia has the most projects, followed by Florida and South Carolina. See our recent presentation Introduction to the LEED Program for images and data.

If you are involved in design, construction or planning of new buildings, you should familiarize yourself with the basic tenets of green building design; an organized, easy way to achieve and demonstrate a green project is by following the LEED guidelines in planning, design and construction.

One can earn up to 69 points for a LEED building; some of the points are relatively easy to earn; others less so. For example, you can readily score points for smart design in site selection, reduced site disturbance, or reduced light pollution. At the other end of the spectrum are points earned with more effort or expense, such as gray water recycling, composting toilets, or the provision of alternative fuel refueling stations. In between are many opportunities and design ideas that are achievable with only a little extra effort. To achieve the minimum level of LEED Certification, 26 points are required.

Points are earned in five categories - sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy/atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality (IEQ).

Developing a LEED building is a very commendable goal. Any higher first costs are more than offset by the benefits of lower operating costs, lower total life cycle costs and a superior working environment. However, with good planning, cost impacts are minimal. Emory University estimates one percent for its Whitehead Biomedical Research Building - a project where the decision to go with LEED was made after construction had actually began! Other projects report zero to five percent.

You begin your project by meeting seven LEED prerequisites:

Prerequisites

Construction Activity Pollution Prevention to reduce negative impacts on water and air quality

Fundamental Commissioning of the Building Energy Systems to verify and ensure that building elements and systems are designed, installed and calibrated to operate as intended

Minimum Energy Performance (meet or exceed ASHRAE 90.1-2004) to establish the minimum level of energy for the base building and systems

Fundamental Refrigerant Management to eliminate the use of CFCs in HVAC&R Equipment to reduce ozone depletion

Minimum IAQ (indoor air quality) Performance (meet or exceed ASHRAE 62-2004) to prevent the development of IAQ problems in buildings, maintaining the health and well being of the occupants

Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control to prevent exposure of building occupants and systems to (ETS)

Storage and Collection of Recyclables to facilitate the reduction of waste generated by building occupants that is hauled to and disposed of in landfills.

These are easily done and ought to be a part of any new building project, whether green is a direct goal or not.

Green Building Design Ideas

To earn points for your project, you could begin by selecting from among the following strategies recently considered for a project in Georgia pursuing LEED certification using the LEED-NC v2.1 Rating System:

"Choose a site that is not prime farmland, at least 5' above the 100-year floodplain, that is not habitat for endangered species, that is not within 100' of a wetland and that was not formerly a public park." Be sure buildings are sited 100' out of the wetland.

"Locate your project within 1/4 mile of a two or more bus lines." Can your project possibly meet this through regional or local transportation agreements?

"Provide bicycle parking and convenient shower facilities for five percent of building occupants." This should be easy to meet at no or low cost.

"Provide alternative fuel vehicle refueling station for 3% of total vehicle parking." This may be not feasible unless your utility is interested in some sponsorship for electric or natural gas vehicles or if the university elects to demonstrate vehicle-related environmental technology.

"Size the parking not to exceed local minimum zoning requirements and provide preferred carpool parking for 5% of building occupants." This may be feasible for the average of the total site if the parking count is below zoning.

"If a greenfield site, limit site disturbance including earthwork and clearing of vegetation to 40' beyond building perimeter, 5' beyond primary roadway curbs, walkways and main utility trenches and 25' beyond pervious paving areas. If a previously developed site, restore 50% of remaining open area by planting native or adapted vegetation." This is feasible as part of the landscape design and prime construction for "lay down" or staging space during construction.

"Do not exceed IESNA [Illuminating Engineering Society of North America] standards for exterior lighting [which would be good design practice in any event] and design interior and exterior illumination so that no illumination leaves the building site. Purpose is to reduce sky glow and off-site lighting." This is easy to achieve at little or no additional cost with appropriate exterior light specification.

"Provide shade (within 5 years) on at least 30% of non-roof impervious surfaces on the site OR use light-colored, high-reflectance materials for 30% of non-roof impervious surfaces on the site." Shade from tree planting, trellis or covered walks on parking and walkway areas, as well as on East, West and South faces of buildings, will enhance any campus.

"Use 'high efficiency' irrigation equipment OR use captured rain or recycled site water to reduce potable water consumption for irrigation for 50%. Earn an additional point by using captured rain or recycled site water for 100% of site irrigation OR do not install permanent landscape irrigation systems." If landscaping is native and non-native plantings are kept to a minimum, this may be feasible. Note that rain water collection from roof surfaces may be tied into the irrigation supply.

Earn two points by designing the building to use 20% less energy than the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999. This will add cost to the building but have a good payback and a low life cycle cost. Design options include reduction in vision window areas, the energy performance specifications of the curtain wall and addition of sunscreen features, and use of efficient HVAC and lighting systems.

Additional Commissioning (Enhanced Commissioning with LEED-NC v2.2)

In addition to the Fundamental Building Commissioning that is a prerequisite, this step is to perform additional activities to assure building performance. This might add cost to the building cost but will result in much improved building performance.

This measure will cost more for HVAC. Ask the mechanical engineer to evaluate during design and provide adequate information to confirm budget assumptions.

"Provide a CO2 monitoring and control system for space ventilation." This will add cost but improve indoor air quality. Ask the mechanical engineer to evaluate during design and provide adequate information to confirm budget assumptions.

"Meet SMACNA IAQ (indoor air quality) standards during construction." Should be relatively easy and inexpensive to achieve if negotiated with the primary construction contract. Earn an additional point by performing building flush-out two weeks prior to occupancy or conducting IAQ testing; also relatively inexpensive if negotiated with the construction contract.

"Specify low VOC [Volatile Organic Compounds] adhesives and sealants. Earn an additional point by specifying low VOC paints." This is easy to do with interior construction.

"Require your building to meet ASHRAE 55-1992/1995 Standard for thermal comfort." This should be a basic requirement whether or not LEEDâ„¢ certification is sought, so the additional cost should be zero.

"(Earn one point for having a LEEDâ„¢ consultant on design team.)" This additional cost can be contained if the LEEDâ„¢ consultant is integral to the Design Team from the start of the project.

Develop and implement a waste management plan, quantifying material by weight. Recycle and/or salvage at least 50% by weight of construction, demolition and land clearing waste.

Specify a minimum of 20% of building materials that contain 20% post-consumer recycled content material or 40% post-industrial recycled content material. For example, some research and specification would determine if the curtain wall and aluminum building products, such as awning and sunscreens could meet this requirement.

Specify a minimum of 20% of building materials that are manufactured within a radius of 500 miles. There is an abundance of material manufactured within this distance including the Atlanta area. Wood products, windows, doors and carpeting are among those interior building products. Brick, concrete and curtain systems are among those base building products.

Specify rapidly renewable materials for 5% of total building materials. Examples are bamboo flooring, fast-growing poplar and Monterey pine trees for oriented strand board and wheat grass cabinetry.

Use a minimum of 50% of wood-based materials certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Guidelines. Certified Forest Products come from forest that are sustainably managed.

There are fifty more ways to earn points, such as re-developing a brownfield, using low-flow plumbing fixtures that exceed the Energy Policy Act of 1992 guidelines, purchasing green power, re-using building materials from the existing or another project site and so on. Some are difficult to achieve, others less so, depending on the Owner's interest and commitment.

• Catch the Wave; LEED is a growing trend
• Many LEED measures are easy to implement
• All are "good sense" things to do in your building
  • Good for the project
  • Good for the occupants
  • Good for the environment
  • Good for your bottom line
• Aim to "LEED" on your next Project!