Page 53 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

30 GREEN BUILDINGS TODAY

There is growing evidence that a LEED-CS certification helps developers to lease
space faster and attract better tenants. There is also evidence that ENERGY STAR
buildings attract higher rents and result in higher resale values.* In Atlanta, Hines cer-
†
tified their 1180 Peachtree building as LEED-CS Gold. Both the Hines’ LEED-Silver
One South Dearborn in Chicago and the 1180 Peachtree building were sold in 2006
after completion of construction and leasing activity. Jerry Lea of Hines comments
about the benefits of the LEED rating system: “Both buildings got the highest sales
price (dollars per square foot) for buildings ever sold in those two markets. Is it
because they were green?....I think there is some correlation that green buildings help
you lease the space, and that helps sell them.” ‡

LEED FOR COMMERCIAL INTERIORS

LEED-CI is designed mainly for situations in which the base building systems are not
changed and which a tenant only takes up a few floors in a much larger building. In
this circumstance, the ability to affect total energy and water use, or such issues as
open space, landscaping or stormwater management is either much smaller or nonex-
istent. Thus, other green building measures are incorporated into the evaluation
system. These measures include choices that tenants can make about lighting design,
energy-using equipment, lighting control systems, submetering, furniture and furnish-
ings, paints, carpet, composite wood products, and length of tenancy.
Because the focus of this book is on the use of integrated design process (IDP) in
new building construction, I’m not going to focus much attention on LEED-CI. This
is not meant to slight the many fine LEED-CI projects, but the fact is that most tenant
improvements happen so fast, there is not time for a conventional IDP.

LEED FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS
LEED-EB was originally proposed and designed to be a method for assuring on-going
accountability of LEED-NC buildings over time. It has become instead a stand-alone
rating system for building owners who want to benchmark their operations against a
nationally recognized standard. LEED-EB addresses many issues not dealt with in
new construction, including upgrades, operations and maintenance practices, environ-
mentally preferable purchasing policies, waste management programs, green house-
keeping, continuous monitoring of energy use, retrofitting water fixtures to cut use,
relamping, and a host of other measures. By early 2008, seven projects had received
LEED-EB Platinum ratings, and the system appeared to be gaining momentum, as
new LEED-EB project registrations in 2007 almost tripled the number of such under-
takings underway in the United States. Again, similar to LEED-CI, we’re not going to

*See “Does Green Pay Off?” by Professor Norman Miller, www.green-technology.org/green_technology_magazine/
norm_miller.htm, accessed July 31, 2008.
† www.hines.com/property/detail.aspx?id=507, accessed March 20, 2007.
‡ Jerry Lea, Hines, Interview, March 2006.