Comments on: LEED for Homes Basic Process and Fees

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:30:53 +0000

Understanding USGBC needed to have QA/QC through LEED Homes Providers, limited contractors, were set prior to LEED AP for Homes. The process for determining LEED for Homes Providers after the initial RFQ deadline seems different than it was before the deadline. LEED AP has evolved from 2.2 to 3.0 and it will serve best interest for general public and USGBC for marketing, promoting LEED Homes. Abolishing Homes Providers/Home Rater and let LEED Homes AP coordinating and overseeing LEED Homes certification.

By: Doyle Stafford Architect

Doyle Stafford Architect — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:37:19 +0000

As an architect with over thirty years experience, I have always lamented the usurious fees that engineers, particularly MEP’s, charge for their services and the necessity to “re-design” them with a competent contractor because the design was poor or too expensive. After reading the fees being charged by LEED Providers and Raters, I take it all back!!!! The fees I have seen on this site and others are simply insane!!!! As we enter the new “Less Is More” era of residential design/construction – the idea of adding the cost of multiple players to procure LEED certification will defeat the very purpose that we, as designers, are trying to achieve. Lower cost, well designed, sustainable projects that meet our clients housing needs. Builders are a very creative lot when it comes to saving money. You can expect intense competition from other energy conscious entities or “providers” to provide a reasonable certification process to ensure that new homes are built to energy/sustainability standards that any architect or quality builder should provide anyway. The State of Tennessee Facilities Division, as directed by the State Architect, has already adopted its own, low cost set of standards for public buildings, cutting the cost of LEED Certification out of projects entirely. Just as in the public arena, residential construction is already burdened by onerous environmental “soft costs”. The cost of LEED certification will simply prove to be too burdensome and will be discarded for less expensive, better performance standards to ensure sustainability at a reasonable cost.

Doyle Lee Stafford Architect, NCARD
Nashville, Tennessee

By: Chris K.

Chris K. — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:54:37 +0000

BTW: This blog is great! Good source of info. I would like to throw it out there that I am a LEED consultant that is part of an architecture firm and we are certifying affordable senior apartments under the LEED for Homes rating system, one and two story units. The fees are lower and you get a quantity break on many fees the bigger the project. Also the Homes system is much easier to attain then NC when it comes to apartments. Just for consideration.
Thanks

By: rdb

rdb — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:47:17 +0000

Alan – Chad is correct, you would register a large project like that under LEED-NC. There is a LEED for Homes Pilot running in 2009 for mid-rise projects, however it sounds like yours is large enough to warrant using LEED-NC.

Fees are different for LEED-NC projects. Registration is $450 for USGBC members and $600 for non-members. The review & certification fees are based on total square footage of the project. If it’s less than 50,000 or more than 500,000 SF, there are flat rates. Between those figures, the fee is calculated per square foot, and there are lower rates for USGBC members. You can find out more at the USGBC’s website: http://www.usgbc.org.

The cost of someone’s time to prepare and track the documentation makes up the majority of LEED-associated fees for any project. You can only get an estimate on that by talking to a design firm that does it. Make sure you find a firm that is well-experienced in LEED, to ensure that you aren’t paying for THEIR learning curve.

By: chad

chad — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:42:48 +0000

That would be LEED NC (New Construction) most likely so the fees in this post would not apply. I am not familiar with what fees could be for a project of this size. Most of the fees would probably come from your LEED Accredited Architect to manage all of the paperwork…

By: Alan Fredrickson

Alan Fredrickson — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:19:03 +0000

We are interested in doing a 276 unit apartment complex and getting certified. It is not clear whether the registration and certification fees are per apartment unit, or for the entire project. Any help is appreciated.

By: chad

chad — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:43:55 +0000

Grant – Glad to hear we were of some help in your decision of whether or not to go LEED. The third party being involved is really the key to its value in our opinion. Best of luck on your project. It sounds like it will turn out great due to your diligence.

By: Grant

Grant — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:54:00 +0000

I’m going to be Owner Building. I am hiring an architect to do the plans from my own CAD drawings, and will have an engineer stamp the structural design elements. I already figured I would need to hire an on-site supervisor. I was debating about whether or not I REALLY wanted to pay the extra money for LEED certification on my home.

If I choose to go with LEED certification, then I will probably most value the 3rd party inspection to ensure I am actually getting what I designed and paid for… I want a blower door test. I want every leak sealed. I want my HVAC system designed for the loads my energy-efficient home will generate (not over-sized or under-sized) and I want testing to ensure proper sizing “as constructed.” Whether or not I go for LEED certification, I WILL pay extra to have these inspections and tests done.

Considering the partner of the architect I want to hire to make the house plans from my CAD drawings and advise me on my design is a LEED provider, maybe I can negotiate the LEED certification as part of the overall fee… I’m glad you broke down where the money goes (only $600 to LEED) so that I understand my negotiating position better.

Since I intend to pay for such design guidance from my architect anyway, and I also intend to hire inspectors and run tests anyway, I’m beginning to think LEED certification may not cost me as much extra as I had presumed…

As a generic citizen, I want LEED certification for my home so that I can help improve local awareness of the viability and value of green building. If I am only paying an extra $2,000 or so to accomplish that (because I’m likely already paying the other $3,000 or so), then I’ll probably go for it!

By: LEED for Homes Rating System - 100K Intro | 100khouse.com

LEED for Homes Rating System - 100K Intro | 100khouse.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:03:30 +0000

[...] LEED for Homes Basic Process and Fees → [...]

By: chad

chad — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:04:59 +0000

Lee,

I was mainly trying to justify the cost of LEED for the average developer. I am making an effort to keep these affordable on my own and am more concerned with my ability to sell them quickly than for any type of premium.

The real value in LEED for me is the third party certification that forces us to implement everything as planned and pushes us to work harder on every detail of the design.

For instance, we just found that going to a new type of hot water heating system that our LEED provider recommended is going to increase the overall energy efficiency of the house by roughly 30%. This will save the homeowner mucho dinero over the lifetime of the home and is something we might not have caught without LEED and a third party involved…

Thanks for the complements on the blog. Helping non-profits was one of the inspirations for providing the level of detail we are on the blog from the beginning so it’s great to see the hard work is paying off.