Is it true as I hear that the LEED exam and or certification is becoming more commonplace (ie: required by the city) - at least here in Los Angeles? I heard this from a friend that works at a corp office in LA that it seems like it may be the new thing the City of LA is requiring of all their buildings. Any thoughts, or comments/information on this?
Is it strictly limited for public projects, or is this going to be a requirement across the board for all projects?
LEED cert. is, IMHO, going to be required for all gov't projects before very long. All new Chicago city gov't projects are going to be LEED (so says Daley), and it's spreading.
...for *all* projects? No, I don't think so. But more and more common, yes. Eventually it'll just end up in the codes anyhow.
Note, however, that nobody *needs* to be LEED-accredited in order for a project to be certified -- sure, you get one free point if someone IS accredited, but it's not absolutely necessary.
I know that the LA Community College District requires that their new buildings be LEED Certified. I think this is the trend of the day and we all have to bite the bullet and take the test and implement the design ideas. The faster we are off running with it, the easier it is going to be to attract new clients and projects.
who has gone through the rigor of certifiying a building? i'm in the middle of one right now that is a renovation to a historic state government building. it's really tough, especially with ever-tightening budgets.
one critique of the LEED scoring system is that it seems very heavily weighted toward active mechanical systems and very few points for passive systems (mainly in the "Innovation" section of the score card).
i understand the need for a rating system to push and to elevate awareness, but often wonder if it's becoming just rote and more of an obstacle for true sustainable design.
I remain unconvinced that anyone really needs to be LEED-accredited, except for those few folks that actually review the submissions (ie., folks working for the USGBC).
Everyone else oughta make do with the ref guide.
...of course, I'm still taking the LEED test next week, so you can't trust what I say...
Also, the ref guide is too freaking expensive for single individuals. I had to buy the goddamn thing myself; the USGBC ought to be FRIENDLY toward freelancers, rather that crushing us under the weight of a fee structure aimed at HOK, SOM, etc. But I guess that's a problem with essentially all standards-setting organizations.
from my basic knowledge, the costs for actually obtaining the LEED certification can be very high. the GC/CM and contractors must have all materials and paperwork submitted and certified (above and beyond the project budget).
designing to LEED standards seems great, but i can't see how most people can afford to actually get the certification. i know of one huge project where the LEED certification will cost upwards of $5M.
I think that LEED is important because it measures the 'green-ness' of a building in a real and quanitifiable way. It also makes for easy comparisons between green buildings. The LEED system will hopefully prevent unscrupulous developers from claiming that their buildings are sustainable (in order to sell at a higher price) when all they have only used one or two sustainable materials.
Jul 27, 04 4:00 pm ·
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Currently I work in sustainable consumer product design consulting but I would like to somehow work my way into sustainable architecture consulting via LEED certification. However, I'm not a licensed architect. Is there room in the industry for green design professionals who are not architects or engineers? Does it make sense? And what kind of firms/organisations would hire someone like me? Any advice would be appreciated.
Dec 17, 04 5:34 pm ·
·
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LEED Exams, what's up with that?
Is it true as I hear that the LEED exam and or certification is becoming more commonplace (ie: required by the city) - at least here in Los Angeles? I heard this from a friend that works at a corp office in LA that it seems like it may be the new thing the City of LA is requiring of all their buildings. Any thoughts, or comments/information on this?
Is it strictly limited for public projects, or is this going to be a requirement across the board for all projects?
thoughts??
LEED cert. is, IMHO, going to be required for all gov't projects before very long. All new Chicago city gov't projects are going to be LEED (so says Daley), and it's spreading.
...for *all* projects? No, I don't think so. But more and more common, yes. Eventually it'll just end up in the codes anyhow.
Note, however, that nobody *needs* to be LEED-accredited in order for a project to be certified -- sure, you get one free point if someone IS accredited, but it's not absolutely necessary.
I know that the LA Community College District requires that their new buildings be LEED Certified. I think this is the trend of the day and we all have to bite the bullet and take the test and implement the design ideas. The faster we are off running with it, the easier it is going to be to attract new clients and projects.
who has gone through the rigor of certifiying a building? i'm in the middle of one right now that is a renovation to a historic state government building. it's really tough, especially with ever-tightening budgets.
one critique of the LEED scoring system is that it seems very heavily weighted toward active mechanical systems and very few points for passive systems (mainly in the "Innovation" section of the score card).
i understand the need for a rating system to push and to elevate awareness, but often wonder if it's becoming just rote and more of an obstacle for true sustainable design.
what are other's thoughts about LEED?
I remain unconvinced that anyone really needs to be LEED-accredited, except for those few folks that actually review the submissions (ie., folks working for the USGBC).
Everyone else oughta make do with the ref guide.
...of course, I'm still taking the LEED test next week, so you can't trust what I say...
Also, the ref guide is too freaking expensive for single individuals. I had to buy the goddamn thing myself; the USGBC ought to be FRIENDLY toward freelancers, rather that crushing us under the weight of a fee structure aimed at HOK, SOM, etc. But I guess that's a problem with essentially all standards-setting organizations.
from my basic knowledge, the costs for actually obtaining the LEED certification can be very high. the GC/CM and contractors must have all materials and paperwork submitted and certified (above and beyond the project budget).
designing to LEED standards seems great, but i can't see how most people can afford to actually get the certification. i know of one huge project where the LEED certification will cost upwards of $5M.
I think that LEED is important because it measures the 'green-ness' of a building in a real and quanitifiable way. It also makes for easy comparisons between green buildings. The LEED system will hopefully prevent unscrupulous developers from claiming that their buildings are sustainable (in order to sell at a higher price) when all they have only used one or two sustainable materials.
Currently I work in sustainable consumer product design consulting but I would like to somehow work my way into sustainable architecture consulting via LEED certification. However, I'm not a licensed architect. Is there room in the industry for green design professionals who are not architects or engineers? Does it make sense? And what kind of firms/organisations would hire someone like me? Any advice would be appreciated.
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