Cost!

Thanks, Nena! I appreciate your comments.

Nena - Another fine point. LEED is beginning to be associated once again with high cost and elitism. I disagree with the USGBC's handling of the program. LEED should be inclusive and accessible. USGBC has lost their way....

Nella. The cost is actually a 'snip' as it includes yearly GBCI certification fees and on a building of say 200,000 sq feet that is a HUGE saving.
However in reply to your comment about LEED consultants 'to help get the score up' I doubt that will happen. The LDP is being sold direct by USGBC LEED AP's have no role in it's sale, setup or operation. The LDP has been designed to be operated by the in-house team (direct upload of energy and water data from the BMS) and by having the other surveys completed as a direct email (transportation survey as an example) from the LDP software to the buildings FTE. That's leaves dumpster diving and the yearly VOC grab sample.

Nena. Great comments. The IAQ test is only a CO2 test based on a PPM for interior, regularly occupies spaces. The VOC will be done via annual audit. That VOC test is purely a grab sample and the one parameter that doesn’t change much in an aged building is total VOC’s, unless new products are introduced in large quantities. Raising the score is then based on a very very small viewpoint. In any case for validity the test 'should ' be performed by a hygienist.

Nena-Your second comment is perhaps the crux of the conversation....are we only concerned about the costs...or are the 'impacts' that are created by LEED EB the most important thing? Scot's comments can be summed up as 'LEED EB hasn't made headway because there's too much paperwork, takes too long and costs too much'...and you know what...he's right!.
Yet dumming LEED EB down into an LDP...which then doesn't reduce the cost but reduces the time and the paperwork but, inadvertently perhaps, reduces the impact of LEED in the existing building marketplace could be classed as 'cutting our nose off to spite our face'.

Dear Nena,

Our pricing is preliminary, and as you know from Tristan’s article, the LEED Dynamic Plaque is in version 1.0. Do you still have your version of LEED 1.0 or 2.0? Do you recall how light and simple they were? We started something with those documents that we have created significant change.

The LEED Dynamic Plaque is designed to be used on any sized project. The data does not need to be automated and the input screens are designed to be easy to use with multiple ways to increase inputs. Please contact us about your project or projects and let’s discuss the best way to make the system work for you. Please call or email if you are interested: contact@leedon.io.

In terms of your question about calculating a score, we are working on a demo version of the software that will allow you to try your data and see how you would score. I expect that we will have the demo site in place later this year.

In terms of the system, we will continue to add measures, especially in the Human Experience section. The market is robust in this area right now with many companies creating and testing sensor boxes that include automation of sound, particulates, VOCs, CO2 and many more. But the technology is not quite proven and more importantly the costs are too high. We will get there but I believe these automation methods will be in version 2.0 or higher of the LEED Dynamic Plaque.

Most importantly, the LEED Dynamic Plaque is absolutely not a replacement for LEED for Existing Buildings. We'd all love it if every LEED for New Construction project went on to pursue LEED for Existing Buildings to keep their LEED project up to date, but we have our answer from the market - they aren’t going to do it. So, how do we connect LEED-certified projects to ongoing performance? We certainly have not done it successfully to date and it is time to do this. We believe the LEED Dynamic Plaque is an optimal and inspiring solution. We are adding a dimension to LEED that provides that critical connection where it has never existed. I appreciate that you think this is the right direction and i hear that you don't think this is the answer. LEED 1.0 was not the answer either. I suppose we can all agree that LEED v4 is only a step in an ongoing evolution of rating systems. Let's keep working on the LEED Dynamic Plaque and make it what it can be. I would love to know what would make it usable for your projects.

In the meantime, we are holding regular calls with committees and will be relying on the LEED Steering Committee, the Technical Committee and the Implementation Committee to help us adjust and calibrate the scoring in the system as well as advise as we build version 2.0.