LEED - H compared to LEED - NC

The LEED Homes Provider for your area may have some data for comparison as there are a number of variables and assumptions in your question. It may be worth getting a preliminary fee proposal if you haven't already.

In general, we've seen soft cost savings with LEED Homes for mid-rise residential projects compared to NC, mostly from the smaller work scope needed for commissioning, energy modeling, and preparing documentation. It may be harder, though, to get all the right decision makers, especially representing energy analysis and HVAC design, around the table early enough for the integrated project planning requirements. These are often tasks that get bid and contracted much later in the process.

In some cases, if the units are quite small, the home size adjuster can make the threshold for achieving a particular certification level, Gold or platinum, easier to reach than under NC. In both systems, there are obvious advantages for being in densely developed areas with access to transit.

In some regions, incentive programs may be tied to a level of LEED certification, but not all incentive programs treat LEED Homes and NC the same.

For hard costs, take a careful look at the Homes requirement for meeting ASHRAE 62.2 instead of 62.1: operable windows alone won't be sufficient for ventilation, nor will make-up air coming from a shared corridor via an under-cut entry door.

Overall, it's really great to having a local LEED-H provider as part of the process - you can get faster, specific, and targeted input on your project instead of waiting for the review process or submitting CIRs. It's more in keeping with the spirit of integrated design.

Hope that helps.

Marian, I'm not sure you have a choice in the matter. Aren't residential projects of that scale required to use LEED for Homes?David provides some great points, and I haven't seen a summary other than that, perhaps because it's not perceived as an either/or.

David,

I found your comment while trying to determine whether we will satisfy the EQp4.1 requirements in our 4 story multiunit residential building. My reading of the LEED for Homes rating system, and that of the Multifamily Midrise system is that the whole unit ventilation system just has to comply with ASHRAE 62.2-2007. As the ASHRAE standard does not specify that windows cannot serve as ventilation, I was hoping that you might be able to explain whether units with both operable windows and a continuous exhaust fan would satisfy the prereq?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Sam