Sustainable Development

[datadyne007]

I read somewhere last week that LEED certification is given prior to construction and that there's no follow-up to confirm that what was promised was actually delivered.

Can anyone confirm?

I've just started reading about the whole LEED thing. Interesting.

I'm going to get certified as a "LEED expert" since it only costs $800 and you get hired by architecture firms b/c they get a LEED point simply for having you on staff.

USA Today (yes, USA Today) has a comprehensive article covering LEED.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/24/green-building-leed-certification/1650517/

During the proposal process, the developer/architect fills out the LEED checklist. There are 3 columns in addition to the items - Definite, Possible, Unlikely. They then go through each line item (greywater reuse, green roof, double skin, etc) and check if it is a definite, maybe could be implemented, or out-of-the-picture. The points are then tallied and the proposed LEED ranking is given based on how many points are in the Definite column. If you include the Possible column, you can then establish stretch goals. For example, you have 50 points definite, so you're likely going to be "Certified," but 35 points are possible as well, so you could try for "Bronze." There's Certified, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. This checklist that is included in things like PNFs, NPCs, etc is used for marketing purposes only.

The certification is officially given after construction when they run down the list of what actually was built.

There is a much larger issue with the LEED system, in that it is an a la carte approach where you pick and choose random things and suddenly you have a LEED Certified building. It doesn't fully encourage a wholly sustainable building, as that video beautifully points out.

 

[gyro]

certification is not given prior to construction. Certifcation occurs after completion of construction. When filing the credit templates for approval, various forms of documentation are required to prove the credtis were met. Usually it is months to a year after a building is open that it finally is awarded certification.