Page 153 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

ADDITIONAL COST CONSIDERATIONS 129

power, chilled water, and/or electricity; open space; multiple transportation
options; and other services that result in anywhere from 5 to 15 “embedded” LEED
points toward certification for any project. Similarly, a shopping center developer
with higher standards for site development could “embed” 6 to 12 LEED points for
every retail store that wanted to become certified, without the store having to spend
anything more.

PROJECT SIZE
You would expect smaller projects to have a higher cost premium for LEED certifica-
tion, because certain of the costs of LEED (e.g., documentation assistance, energy
modeling, and building commissioning) have fixed-cost elements independent of proj-
ect size that will add to the cost per square foot. Above a certain size, perhaps 50,000
square feet for new projects or major renovations, this “size cost premium” starts to
disappear. Let’s say such a project has a budget of $5 million and let’s say that the
LEED “fixed cost” items for a Silver certification total $75,000. That’s a cost premium
of 1.5 percent, generally quite tolerable for most projects, assuming there are not too
many other net cost additions from higher energy efficiency, for example. At $10 million,
the fixed cost premium is likely below 1 percent.

FEASIBILITY OF LEED MEASURES

Another cost factor is the feasibility of LEED actions. For example, in most urban
areas, recycling 75 percent of construction waste is virtually a no-cost item for the
project. However, for projects in rural areas, there may be no construction waste
recycling opportunities. To get the “lost” two points from some other LEED meas-
ures, for example, might add cost to an identical project, everything else held equal,
if it wanted to qualify for the same certification level. The same would hold true for
many of the materials and resources credits that might rely on a local supply chain
for supply of recycled-content materials or certified wood products. (Ironically,
more than a few of the LEED Platinum projects we profile in this book are located
in rural areas.)

DESIGN PROCESS AND CREDIT SYNERGIES
Certain sustainability measures exhibit synergies that generate multiple LEED credits
from one action. Take green roofs, for example. Green roofs not only reduce the urban
heat island effect, but also mitigate stormwater runoff, create habitat and urban open
space, conserve water use in landscaping, reduce building energy use, and may even
qualify for an innovation credit in the LEED system. The same measure could provide
for up to 8 LEED points, serving to offset the higher costs of green roofs, typically $10
to $20 per square foot, by eliminating other costs that would have been incurred to
achieve equivalent benefits. Of course, in certain climates such as the hotter and drier
western states, reflective roofs may represent a better approach.