[Bldg-sim] Cost of LEED certification

[Matutinovic, Luka]

Paul,
 
Without further context, the answer to your question would be: as much
time and money as any other building.  I think the whole point of
Langdon's study is that LEED is NOT a differentiator of building costs.
LEED buildings cost as little as $200/sf and as much as $600/sf.  
 
If you want, you can determine the cost of "certification" alone from
the USGBC website based on sf, and add the time required for USGBC's
LEED documentation review to the project schedule.
 

Luka Matutinovic, B.A.Sc., LEED(r) AP

Green Building Consultant
 
T. 416.487.5257 ext. 317  
F. 416.487.9766  
Toll Free 1.888.425.7255
www.halsall.com 

HALSALL ASSOCIATES LTD. 
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P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail



________________________________

From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of P. Hay
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 2:33 PM
To: sheffer at energyopportunities.com; Bldg-Sim
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] Cost of LEED certification



Thanks for the links Marcus.  

 

I have scanned the Langdon document and even looked at later articles
written on the topic.  They agree that the Langdon study is more
comprehensive but still gravitate towards the costing provided by the
American Chemistry Council. My take on the matter is that the real issue
here is not whether LEED certification costs more, but how much does it
cost: both in terms of time and expense.

 

Paul Hay

Managing Partner

PAUL HAY Capital Projects

 

Strategic Facility Planning and Implementation

 

15a Cassia Park Road

Kingston 10

Jamaica, W.I.

 

tel: 1 (876) 756-0631

cel: 1 (876) 324-4274

fax: 1 (876) 756-0631

 

web: www.phcjamaica.com

e-mail: paul.hay at phcjamaica.com

profile: www.linkedin.com/in/phcjam

twitter: www.twitter.com/phcjam

 

 

 

From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Marcus
Sheffer
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 11:39 AM
To: paul.hay at phcjamaica.com; Bldg-Sim
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] Cost of LEED certification

 

Anyone's first LEED project requires an investment of time to learn how
to do it.  This learning curve is somewhat steep but once you learn how
to do, actually doing it takes considerably less time.  Outside soft
costs (commissioning, energy modeling and LEED documentation) if you are
spending a dime more for construction costs than conventional for LEED
Certified or Silver then you have made an optional choice or are not
properly applying the system.  Many projects attain the Gold
certification level without an increase in construction costs.  

 

There have been several cost studies over the years than do not show
that LEED requires the type of investment purported by the American
Chemistry Council.  Here are some links:

 

http://www.cap-e.com/publications/default.cfm

http://www.davislangdon.com/USA/Research/ResearchFinder/2007-The-Cost-of
-Green-Revisited/

 

The Davis Langdon study above is far more thorough and comprehensive
than the much older ACC report which relies on a considerable amount of
early anecdotal evidence.

 

In many respects the cost of LEED comes down to what you assign to LEED
as an "extra" cost.  Many teams have figured out how to neutralize even
the added soft costs through an integrative design process. 

 

Marcus Sheffer

7group 

 

 

From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of P. Hay
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 11:36 AM
To: Bldg-Sim
Subject: [Bldg-sim] Cost of LEED certification

 

I recall someone once asked about the time needed to be spent on LEED
certification.  Well, I have just come across a report prepared by
Northbridge Environmental Management Consultants
<http://www.nbenvironmental.com> entitled Analyzing the Cost of
obtaining LEED Certification, which is available online at the following
link: 

 

http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/for_communities/LEED_links/Analyzingt
heCostofLEED.pdf

 

It indicates that the documentation takes 226 working hours on average
to prepare and costs between US$8,000 - US$70,000 per project: the first
project costing between US$30,000 - US$60,000.

 

Paul Hay

Managing Partner

PAUL HAY Capital Projects

 

Strategic Facility Planning and Implementation

 

15a Cassia Park Road

Kingston 10

Jamaica, W.I.

 

tel: 1 (876) 756-0631

cel: 1 (876) 324-4274

fax: 1 (876) 756-0631

 

web: www.phcjamaica.com

e-mail: paul.hay at phcjamaica.com

profile: www.linkedin.com/in/phcjam

twitter: www.twitter.com/phcjam

 

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