High Performance Buildings: The Fundamentals of LEED

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1 High Performance Buildings: The TranSystems White Paper TranSystems 3232 Central Park West Drive Suite A Toledo, OH

2 2 High Performance Buildings: The EXECUTIVE SUMMARY How well does your management understand that a company can leverage its commitment to environmental sustainability as a source of significant competitive advantage and differentiation? Or, that in many cases, green practices are not only beneficial to the environment, health and community but are also a source of positive impact on the bottom line? There are organizations who have been following environmentally responsible practices for quite some time just because it was the right thing to do or because it was a way to conserve/lower costs (and not necessarily shouting about it). Now that consumers are becoming more conscious of the ingredients/components of the products they buy (and by association, more conscious of the practices of the companies that make the products) environmentally responsible/green practices are beginning to be viewed as desirable and more companies are striving to meet the consumer demand. As a result, these companies are finding that environmentally friendly and sustainable practices not only make good press and attract customers, they can be a source of significant cost savings too. One particular area gaining momentum and attention are the ways in which we design and build our buildings. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) developed and administers the green building rating system known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Engineering Design), whose mission is to work with the building industry to promote buildings that are: Environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. Governmental agencies have been building to green/ LEED standards since the end of the 90 s. The types of organizations getting on board more recently represent a broad span of industries including consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, grocery, chemical, pharmaceutical, furniture, automotive and many others.

3 High Performance Buildings: The 3 Here are just a few of the many benefits to green/ LEED building and practices: - Reduction of operating costs - Quicker permitting time - Higher occupancy rates - Sought-after developments - Positive press/media - Better work productivity - Less absenteeism This paper will provide you with an introduction to green/leed practices in building and give you some ideas on how to get started within your own organization.

4 4 High Performance Buildings: The WHAT IS IT? Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) was developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to transform the built environment to sustainability by providing the building industry with consistent, credible standards for what constitutes a green building. It was also created to prevent greenwashing which refers to false or exaggerated claims. The USGBC (www. usgbc.org) is a national nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC with a diverse membership base, that is consensus-driven and utilizes committee-based product development. Their purpose is to integrate building industry sectors, lead market transformation and educate owners and practitioners. LEED has been gaining ground in the industry since the mid-nineties. In 1996, the birth of the USGBC, there were 61 members. Today, in 2008, there are over 14,000 and growing exponentially. In 2002 there were 80 million square feet of buildings certified by the USGBC and at the end of 2006 there were over 750 million square feet certified. LEED is changing the way we design buildings, assisting us in creating more environmentally friendly buildings for the benefit of the environment as well as the occupants. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings performance. For the remainder of this paper, you ll see both Green and High Performance to describe the LEED building efforts. Through the LEED process, we are creating High Performance buildings which operate more efficiently, thus reducing the operating costs. To quantify the steps designer and builders take to create a High Performance building, the USGBC has created LEED to help guide the process. There are 69 credits that buildings are rated against and the more credits achieved the more green, or high performance the building is, thus the higher level award the building will receive. In theory, the more credits achieved the more sustainable the building is, and should operate at

5 High Performance Buildings: The 5 a lower cost. The levels/awards that can be achieved per building are as follows: Platinum Gold Silver Certified credits credits credits credits The credits are organized in 5 main categories that focus on the different aspects of the built environment. Each category correlates to design disciplines who take the lead in achieving credits within the category: Sustainable Sites (Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering) Water Efficiency (Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering) Energy & Atmosphere (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering) Materials & Resources (Architecture, Structural Engineering) Indoor Environmental Quality (Architecture, Mechanical Engineering) There is also an opportunity to achieve additional credits in the Innovation and Design Process category, basically by doing something that the USBGC has not thought of yet.

6 6 High Performance Buildings: The WHY DO IT? While it may seem like a laborious effort to achieve LEED certification, it is not meant to be. As stated before, the way we think about all aspects of construction to make it better for the building occupants and the environment is changing through this process. LEED is something that needs to be thought, considered and planned from day one in the site selection stage to be most successful. McGraw-Hill Construction did a survey in 2005 of building owners to find out their reasons for design to higher environmental standards like LEED. The top two reasons building owners gave revolve around costs and image while awards and ROI on resale were at the bottom of the list.the reasons vary from because it is the right thing to do to the economic, environmental, health and community benefits. While the typical focus is on the economic rewards, the marketing and positive press potential cannot go unrealized. So while the environmental, health and community benefits do not mean much to the direct bottom line, one must

7 High Performance Buildings: The 7 consider the impact that quicker permitting time, higher occupancy rates, sought-after developments and inherent positive press in the local community has on your organization. While they cannot be easily quantified, some of the environmental benefits can also be found inside. Many building owners are finding that an environmentally better work environment means increased work productivity and less absenteeism which directly affect the bottom line. Here are some of the reasons clients have cited: Enhance and protect ecosystems and biodiversity Improve air and water quality Reduce solid waste Conserve natural resources Reduce operating costs Enhance asset value and profits Improve employee productivity and satisfaction Optimize life-cycle economic performance Improve air, thermal and acoustic environments Enhance occupant comfort and health Minimize strain on local infrastructure Contribute to overall quality of life LEED Project What: Weather Forecast Office Where: Caribou, ME Certified: Silver Details: Standing column geothermal well 98.6% construction waste management Reduction in existing site impervious area Examples of changing times: The City of Chicago has a new Green Permit Program that enables developers to obtain a permit in 30 days and will waive the consultant review fees for those projects planning on pursuing LEED certification. While to date this is the only city to offer it, the Chicago Permitting Department has gotten calls from other cities such as Seattle and Toronto inquiring about the program. The City of Santa Cruz had the following Green initiative on the October 2005 City Council Agenda. 1. Waiver of the brown fee 2. Priority permit processing 3. Reduction or deferral of planning and building permit fees 4. Public recognition and awards Every city has different permits and initiatives to address these high performance building efforts,

8 8 High Performance Buildings: The LEED Project What: 2007 Dormitory, Shaw AFB Where: South Carolina Certified: Anticipated Silver Details: 180 Geothermal Wells 39.8% energy savings Energy Star Roofing which will affect site selection and building planning opportunities. There may be tax credits and funding programs available that you can benefit from if you choose to go high performance building. Utilities are required to buy back excess energy that is generated on private land. This alone is an opportunity for photovoltaic on warehousing and distribution that can supply the energy needed for the building and also get a payback for the excess energy. More money up front for reduced operating cost down the road. WHO IS DOING IT? Many more companies than you might think. Below is a partial list from a quick review of LEED registered projects at the beginning of 2007: Acme Supermarkets Astra-Zeneca Pharmaceuticals Bristol Myers DFW Airport Contessa Premium Foods Frito Lay Great River Energy General Dynamics Toyota IKEA Kettle Foods Mast Inc. Publix Supermarkets Raytheon Spartec Plastics Taco Inc Wal-Mart WHAT DOES IT COST? As more companies strive to meet LEED practices, there are some factors influencing costs in a positive way: Construction industry becoming knowledgeable Manufacturers producing environmentally friendly products Clients implementing program early enough to see benefits

9 High Performance Buildings: The 9 From project to project, the variables that influence the cost of building to LEED specifications include Building location and size Level achieved Points sought after Education End users Theoretically, LEED should not cost any more than a conventional building if it is outweighed against operating costs. There are many credits that do not cost a dime and some that even save money on a project, but many do cost more and need to be chosen logically with input from all stakeholders. It helps to classify credits in the following categories: LEED Project What: Toyota Vehicle DC Where: Portland, OR Certified: Gold Details: Over 30% energy savings CO2 Monitoring Over 75% construction waste management No cost Added cost/reduce operational cost Added cost Reduced cost Just the right thing to do In general terms, Certified to Silver projects are costing ½% - 6% more than conventional projects, while Gold projects are up around 8%-10% more, and Platinum much higher than that. Platinum projects are few and far between, involving everything from generating energy to cleaning waste water and capturing rain water. You and your team need to decide what level you d like to strive for given what makes sense and is achievable for your organization budget and goals. Be logical when thinking about creating a high performance building. Planning early equates to identifying more low hanging fruit when it comes to LEED. If we, as a team, approach the problem logically and are able to assist in site selection or even city selection there are opportunities to reduce the delta between standard building construction and high performance building construction to the point where the delta might be below 0 and the building operation savings can be realized on day one. Misconceptions: Lose square footage Higher costs during construction

10 10 High Performance Buildings: The Increased costs during design Takes more time As with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), LEED should be infused into the process, making the right logical choices without settling for less. Project goals should be established early, planning should take into account LEED opportunities and decisions should be made with the budget as well as environmental goals in mind. WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE? With the USGBC and LEED gaining ground in the industry, the delta between traditional and LEED is shrinking. Your next steps should definitely include further research and education, as well as finding a solid, experienced partner to help you through the process. As a team you can work on site selection looking for tax credits, damaged sites (brown fields) and sites near public transportation to begin to align the project with easily achieved credits. Building programming and master planning should be done with the LEED credits in mind, where simple adjustments made up front can pay dividends during design, so that credits can be easier and less expensive to achieve. Following through during design and construction is critical to successful projects in general, as well as a successful certified project. Be wary of value engineering, short cuts and inexperienced team members. It is important to prove credit achievement for design credits before construction. LEED is there to enhance a building project and a company s image, to reduce operational costs and to change the industry. It is not there to curtail projects or make them more difficult. Do your homework and hire an experienced partner to work with you. Not ready for a new facility but looking for other ways to move towards more environmentally sustainable practices? Start with our white paper, "Greening of the Supply Chain" by John M. Hill, TranSystems, which can be found at

11 Greening the Supply Chain 11 About The Author - David G. Campbell, AIA, LEED TranSystems David G. Campbell, AIA LEED, is registered in 11 states and has over 16 years of design and management experience. He has worked in the United States, Spain and Italy on over one hundred and fifty projects, with eleven of those in the LEED program. Mr. Campbell s experience is progressive in the design and production of various small and large-scale industrial, community, educational, and commercial projects. As a LEEDcertified program manager with TranSystems, he promotes the use of sustainable design for all projects, educates owners as to how a project is impacted, and constantly researches opportunities to incorporate environmental resources into applicable design solutions. He is a sought after speaker for clients, agencies and contractors in the logical approach to LEED and the means and methods of reducing the LEED cost delta. About TranSystems TranSystems 1,300 professionals in 45 offi ces throughout the U.S. provide a broad range of services to many industries and all sectors of the transportation provider industry. Service areas include: architectural, engineering and planning; management and supply chain consulting, security consulting; and real estate consulting. Contact TranSystems today for more information. TranSystems 3232 Central Park West Drive Suite A Toledo, OH