LEED Standards Shifting to Meet Evolving Market

Before the turn of the century, there was no widely accepted system for environmentally conscious builders to use to compare one “green” project to the next.

In 1999, the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council released the pilot program of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, to give builders a yardstick with which to measure the efficiency and environmental impact of their developments.

In the last few years, the number of building projects certified according to LEED standards has increased dramatically, as has the annual revenue – and expenses – for the USGBC.

But along with increased publicity for LEED has come criticism from some architects and builders that the system doesn’t award enough points for site selection and design, and that the cost of certification is too high.

In 2005, the council certified 203 LEED buildings around the world (the majority were in the United States and Canada). In 2006, 327 were certified and in 2007 the organization added 520 buildings to the LEED roll. At a little past the halfway mark of 2008, the USGBC has certified 327 LEED buildings.

From 2005 to 2007, the USGBC’s revenue increased almost threefold, from $16.40 million to $46.44 million. Expenses increased 118 percent, from $16.39 million to $35.87 million over the same period.

That money – raised mostly through certification fees and membership dues of the 16,000 organizations affiliated with the USGBC – is reinvested in maintaining LEED professional education, promotional materials and workshops, and paying administrative costs, said Tom Hicks, vice president for international programs at the USGBC.

The certification side of LEED is, at best, revenue neutral and might be a loss leader, Hicks said.

Standard Shortcomings

“LEED is great because it gives your average developer a quantifiable way to be more sustainable,” said Rich Brya, founder and principal architect of 3GD Inc., a Rogers design and construction firm.

3GD is a member of the USGBC. Although the firm has not built any LEED certified projects, its buildings are sustainable and efficient.

The firm is building a house west of Bentonville that is largely made of concrete with reflective aluminum siding. These are affordable, locally available materials. A lot of the carbon footprint of a building is in how far the materials used to build it must travel, Brya said.

The house also features radiant heat flooring – where pipes filled with circulating hot water warm the floors – and was designed to take advantage of natural features such as daylight and foliage.

“The north side of a building should look different than the south side of a building because of the different light the south side gets,” Brya said. “There’s a lot of free solar energy that comes in whether you want it or not, so why not take advantage of it?”

One of LEED’s shortcomings is that there aren’t currently enough points awarded for good design principles, many of which can be quantifiably measured in terms of energy savings, Brya said.

That will likely be changing, however.

The USGBC is releasing its latest guidelines for new construction, which will give more weight to design, Hicks said.

“Part of our DNA is continuous improvement of our ratings system and constantly challenging the market,” Hicks said.

Some LEED features have become more common and more affordable. In most cases, building to the level of Certified or Silver won’t cost developers a penny more than older methods, Hicks said.

Gold or Platinum projects will most likely be more expensive, but will also yield higher efficiency and savings, he said.

But even as some practices such as efficient windows and HVAC systems become more prevalent, it won’t be the case that a builder can pass LEED muster simply by following building code.

The system will continually evolve to accommodate technological advancements, Hicks said.

Costly Certification

Andrea Fournet wanted to build green.

The founder of Arkansas Yoga Center had studied sustainable development in college, and when the time arrived to build a new campus, she knew a sustainable project was the only way to go.

When her architect on the project suggested seeking LEED certification, it seemed like a natural fit.

Fournet knew it would be more expensive up front to construct an environmentally friendly building. But what she wasn’t expecting was the price tag of certification: about $20,000.

That price took her by surprise, and she decided the money would be better spent adding on a deck constructed from recycled plastic.

Fournet implemented many other green design elements, including reflective siding, recycled newspaper insulation, an energy efficient HVAC system, radiant heat flooring and preservation of green space.

Design and site selection were very important for Fournet.

“We took a parking lot and did infill – they really like that,” she said, “they” being the USGBC. In addition to infill, the building was oriented to reduce northern exposure so the steps stay dry, and the oak flooring used in one of the main rooms was made up of odd-sized factory seconds.

In addition to the increased savings and diminished environmental impact associated with LEED certification, there are incentives as far as marketing and public relations.

Being able to promote a commercial building as being LEED certified is becoming more and more of an advantage, especially when it comes to attracting and retaining younger workers, many of whom expect buildings to be eco-friendly, Hicks said.

LEED certified buildings also tend to perform better than non-certified projects, Hicks said. He mentioned a federal agency that announced it would build to LEED standards, but would not seek certification.

After a couple of years, it became apparent that the structures weren’t as efficient as planners had thought, and the agency reversed its decision and sought LEED certification on all its future projects.

“When you score yourself on a test you always do better,” Hicks said.

But as an owner and occupier, spending the money on certification to be able to say her building was LEED certified wasn’t as important to Fournet as creating an energy efficient, green building.

She used LEED as a guideline, and for her, the proof is in the savings – a total monthly utility bill of about $280 for a 3,800-SF building.

A little farther north is another green project, only this one is a little bigger at 118,000 SF. The Benchmark Group just moved into its new four-story office building, which is seeking an undisclosed certification level.

Some of the project’s elements include a walking trail for employees, recycled blue jean insulation, rainwater retention and reflective roofing, said Jim Parks, director of marketing and human resources.

Benchmark also preserved about two-thirds of the lot’s green space.

The primary motivation for Benchmark to build green was to save money and minimize environmental impact, Parks said. The company estimates the building will have a utility bill about one-third lower than at the old headquarters.