2. Evaluate compliance and strategies

Teams must initially evaluate their projects ability to comply with LEED and which system is most appropriate. Sometimes costs will be too much of a hurdle to overcome especially with certain versions of the new LEED 2009 system. If region is a hurdle then often more expensive credits will have to be sought after such as Enhanced Commissioning or Thermal Comfort Verification. Some credits can be easily figured into a project at the end - these credits include the ID Credit for Green Cleaning or the EA Credit for Green Power

It’s important to understand that only two things are truly required in LEED – Basic Commissioning and an energy model demonstrating a 14% more energy efficient building than ASHRAE 90.1-2004 (now 2007). Evaluate your ability to get those credits first. They are the initial hurdle in any project and while they aren’t normally difficult, they do provide a good starting point for evaluation of costs and feasibility. Also, make sure you have read what is required of a team on a LEED project and verify that your team has the tools, resources, and drive to see it through to success. The documentation portion can be a frustration and sticking point - see Real Life LEED for more information on this.

I will say in closing however that documentation is supposed to be easier with LEED 2009. The latest update from a member circle event the other night was that many advancements had been made in the area of speed and reliability.

The EBS Team