Taking the LEED isn’t easy

By Theresa Lehman

The plans for most construction projects include green elements.

I applaud the business leaders, building owners, designers and contractors who are concerned about the health of building occupants and who want to understand how buildings impact the environment.

The good news is that building owners are no longer asking, “Should I build green?” Finally, they’re wondering, “Why wouldn’t I build green?”

But the bad news is a lot of designers and contractors are jumping on the green bandwagon in the quest for increased sales or profits.

And lost somewhere in the middle is the huge gap between green building and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Owners, designers and builders must understand the difference and know how to make the jump from green to LEED.

Most owners understand the goal of designing, building and operating green buildings is to eliminate waste, reduce the negative impacts on the environment, reduce consumption of natural resources, increase operational efficiencies and improve the health of building occupants. But going green and designing and building according to the various LEED rating systems are two different things.

The LEED credit requirements established by the U.S. Green Building Council are rigorous and require the guidance of an experienced LEED-accredited professional.

Early in the planning stages of your project, you must engage an integrated, experienced team of design and building professionals with proven experience. Don’t let designers or contractors green-wash you by saying, “Although we don’t have any LEED-registered or LEED-certified projects, we’ve designed/built many green projects.”

Ask the designers and builders what the energy scores are for these green buildings they’ve designed/built. Ask them about life-cycle costs, building materials and the systems they incorporated into their projects.

The designers and builders should identify the benefits these green-building owners realized. They should give examples of how the site was impacted, how they saved water, and how they improved indoor air quality.

And here’s the key: Don’t ask the team how many LEED projects they registered; ask them how many projects received LEED certification. This is what separates the veterans from the rookies, as only about 10 percent of all projects registered actually earn certification.

The long and short of gaining LEED certification is that it provides countless benefits for the building owners and occupants. But it needs to be stressed that this is not without careful pre-planning and follow through.

Simple things, like knowing which LEED rating system and application guides best fit the project and what level of LEED certification you want to achieve, are critical. And how will you achieve this? Who will you consult with to make this project successful?

Here’s some advice: It’s important that an owner’s desire to create a sustainable environment aligns with the company’s mission/vision/
values so that incorporated sustainable strategies are important to the company. During every project, budget decisions come into play, so it’s really important that the green decisions reflect the business’s goals and image.

Increasingly, businesses want buildings that are extensions of their brand image and reputation. Treating a building as an extension of a company’s corporate priorities means an owner owes it to the stakeholders to find the most experienced team to deliver the best results over time.

That approach represents a true application of sustainability to both the environment and an owner’s business mission.