May 4, 2009
Step 2 in the 12 Steps
2. Evaluate compliance and strategies
Teams must initially evaluate their projects ability to comply with LEED and which system is most appropriate. Sometimes costs will be too much of a hurdle to overcome especially with certain versions of the new LEED 2009 system. If region is a hurdle then often more expensive credits will have to be sought after such as Enhanced Commissioning or Thermal Comfort Verification. Some credits can be easily figured into a project at the end – these credits include the ID Credit for Green Cleaning or the EA Credit for Green Power
It’s important to understand that only two things are truly required in LEED – Basic Commissioning and an energy model demonstrating a 14% more energy efficient building than ASHRAE 90.1-2004 (now 2007). Evaluate your ability to get those credits first. They are the initial hurdle in any project and while they aren’t normally difficult, they do provide a good starting point for evaluation of costs and feasibility. Also, make sure you have read what is required of a team on a LEED project and verify that your team has the tools, resources, and drive to see it through to success. The documentation portion can be a frustration and sticking point – see Real Life LEED for more information on this.
I will say in closing however that documentation is supposed to be easier with LEED 2009. The latest update from a member circle event the other night was that many advancements had been made in the area of speed and reliability.
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