Hi there,
I have been digging the web lately without much luck about the LEED cost topic. I have been using the Cost of LEED guide. Still, I am concerned the costs are not extrapolated to the European market and, furthermore this tool does not allow for a more preliminary analysis, which is what I am looking for.
I was wondering if any of you have faced this issue in the past and could share a method, tool, key questions, or recommendations on how to perform this assessment/calculation. The situation is as follows, I am working on a project that is originally meant to be a LEED CS Platinum certification, but the client is now asking to reduce the budget and cut down the cost. My position is that many credits in the LEED CS gold category are natural from the site and many of the credits do not represent an added cost since the local regulations are not far from LEED standards. This situation changes for LEED platinum category, where credits such as enhanced commissioning, rainwater management, daylight, renewable energy production, LCA, and optimized energy performance have to be aim to the maximum number of points. These credits are exclusively for LEED compliance but are not part of the local regulations or natural to the site, and therefore represent the highest added cost, furthermore, they are generally expensive credits to meet. I am not considering the soft cost or fees as critical, but the actual cost of these measures.
That said, any help on this topic will be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Susan Di Giulio
Senior Project ManagerZinner Consultants
153 thumbs up
October 20, 2022 - 1:53 pm
Platinum ALWAYS costs more than Gold; how much depends on a lot of factors. I would work with exactly what sustainable charateristics are required by code and then what else the client really wants to focus (ie, spend money) on (water, energy, air quaity, etc. ), hold your charette, then see where your points shake out.
In the states, the cost dfferential between fundamental and basic enhanced Cx is only $2000-$3000 US. For rainwater management, talk to the project's civil engineer. Cost depends a lot on what you can do, based on site charateristics (permeable surface area, percolation rate of soil, etc), site design and other factors like if the city allows you to hold water on site - in the US, some municipalities want the water to go right into the storm drain system to be collected and used elsewhere. Based on these factors, your options will each have a cost. If there is significant landscape and water is getting expensive i your location, collecting it could be a net savings over time, and you could potentilly "win" all 4 points for outdoor water use as well as 3 for rainwater management; maybe an RPC point as well.
Renewable energy is going to be the big cost and will likely be the deal breaker, unless your building is more or less passive, or you can get a subsidy for your PV or other (geothermal, etc.) system. The problem is more about maxing out your energy efficiency points than the renewable energy points themselves. In v4.1 you can get up to 5 points for green power purchase, buthat doesn't help you optimize energy performance.
If the developer is holding the building, then reducing energy cost, now and in the future, could be a huge attraction for tenants. If this is a spec building, that would be of less interest.
I hope this was helpful!