Classic Platinum Green

The LEED Certification Process

The LEED for Home rating system is considered by many to be the most stringent green remodeling and building standard today. Doug Selby of Meadowlark Builders and Michael Klement, AIA, of Architectural Resource are two remodeling professionals that have been incorporating green into their remodeling designs for many years. So when the LEED standards came along, it was natural for them to want to participate.

There was no intention to seek any LEED certification on this home until it became clear that the clients were willing to accept a smaller footprint in exchange for all of the features and benefits the clients sought. A combination of a high bedroom count along with a low square footage – 1,864 – meant that the home was certainly within striking distance of the requisite points needed to secure at least a Silver or Gold LEED for Home certification. As it turns out, they far exceeded the point totals required for Platinum status.

“What the LEED program does, from the very onset, is to establish point levels for different levels of certifications. And in the certification for Silver, Gold and then Platinum, one of the major criteria is how many bedrooms and how many square feet,” explains Klement. “The more bedrooms you can place into the smaller amount of square footage, the lower the threshold is for the higher levels of certifications. So if we hadn’t made the house as small as it was and yet still kept all of the functionality in the house, we would not have achieved LEED Platinum.”

When it became clear that LEED certification was possible, the team shifted into a collaborative mode. In fact, collaboration is part of the LEED for Homes process.

“The process starts with assembling the team, then going through a couple of the preliminary things that you have to do for any project. You have to do a durability checklist. You have to establish programs that address areas where you usually have durability issues. Then you go into the preliminary checklist. And for this step, you need a certifier or a LEED provider, which is a representative of the USGBC in your area. And the LEED provider would either work with you directly, or they would recommend a local HERS rater (Home Energy Rating System) who can come and be a part of the team. During the process, the HERS rater will make sure things are going according to plan.”
One step in the LEED for Homes process that separates it from other rating systems is that an open-wall inspection must be conducted. This means all walls after insulation, but prior to adding drywall and taping, must be examined for potential leaks. This is a thermal-bypass check.

“In terms of the energy-efficiency component of LEED, there are two ways you can go: One is prescriptive standard and the other is performance-based. We always like to go the performance route, because again, we feel like it is a little more rigorous,” says Klement. “And for that they use the Energy Star program and the HERS rating program; there is a particular step in the process that is called the thermal-bypass check. And in fact, I should point out that in order to do a LEED renovation project, you are compelled to substantially remove either one or the other side of the exterior building enclosure for this inspection.”

All of these inspections cost time and money. To set expectations, Klement advises clients that LEED for Homes could add as much as 15 percent to the total cost of the project. But the lifetime heating and cooling costs have been reduced substantially. For this project, the home has an average heating and cooling bill of $45 per month.

To learn more about LEED, go to the U.S. Green Building Council Web site: www.usgbc.org.