To LEEDs or Not To LEEDs, that is the question

2006-12-11T15:58:00.000-05:00

Green building practices just make sense. But where does one stop? I have been building Earthcraft Homes in Atlanta for over 5 years now. I am a firm believer in the systems in High Performance Homes. (Tankless Waterheater, Radiant Sheathing, Improved insulation and caulking packages {air tight homes}, airtight high eff. furnaces, low VOC materials, CPF's, etc. ) But on a commercial school building I am involved with we asked the same Question "To LEED's or Not To LEEd's?" We decided not to LEED's. We could not justify the certification expenses. $58K for Commissioning, Increases from Subs, and extra delays from designers. Total Cost over $200K on a 15,000 sqft building. We did decided to put the money into green items, Geo Thermal, Inproved Glasing, Rain Water Storage, Green Roof, etc.

With residential homes, costs have been increasing at a great clip. It is now hard to find an affordable well built home. Throw in the extra costs in certification, LEED's will only be obtainable for high end homes. Not only that some of the design characteristics on a LEEDs home make classic designs impossible. ( Such as 30" soffits) Or why spend $50K for a photo electric solar system, when $1500 in CPF will save far more energy. The problem with LEED's is the verification, until there is an organization that will underwrite these costs, LEED's R certification will only be a feather in the cap for the well to do.

I am a firm supporter of local Green Certification Programs. (Earthcraft, in Atlanta) They are a lot more relaxed in cerfitication issues, but check the important items, such as the tightness of the building and HVAC systems. They do all this with a minimum of costs. a few hundered dollars per home

Eco Custom Homes "Eco Building News"

To LEEDs or Not To LEEDs, that is the question