Cost of LEED report - Internationl projects

Good question, George! The report focuses on construction costs for the high-performance measures that would be used to achieve each credit, based on the specific experiences of a team of designers and cost estimators in the Northeastern United States. The particular cost premiums that it provides would probably not be directly applicable to projects outside the U.S., but the list of suggested measures and the methodology for getting at the cost implications of each credit would likely still be quite useful.

So, if you have access to your own cost information for some of these measures that you can integrate into the information in this report, I think it would be quite useful. If you don't, it might still be interesting, but less valuable.

This report should NOT be called the cost of LEED. It is clearly NC. When dealing with an existing building the costs and benefits are totally based on the facility that you're working in. When are we going to stop generalizing?

Finally! I'm really pleased with the presentation and report. Thank you for sharing your research and providing this useful tool, which will greatly enhance decision making for Owners and Project Teams. I am very happy to see both hard cost data and soft cost estimates discussed openly. Now we just need this information for EBOM and LEED-H.

Michael, I'm glad you like the report. We worked hard on it and we're glad it's going to be useful to you.

Richard, a number of people have asked if this report is relevant to LEED-EBOM, and my answer has been that while there may be some pieces that are relevant, it's not addressed directly. As you point out there are a lot of unique challenges with EBOM buildings.

We tried to make that clear in the title of the report, "The Cost of LEED: A Credit-by-Credit Look at the Cost of LEED-NC v2009."

This looks like a good report - like many earlier "cost of LEED" studies, it will be incumbent on us in the practice community to use the information well - e.g apply it and scale it as appropriate to our own projects. The lengthy list of assumptions at the beginning of the report (p. 3) are really important to the accurate use of the data. I look forward to delving into it!

Thanks, BuildingGreen team for developing this.

This report looks very interesting.indeed it's a report focus on leed NC projects,i hope more accurate information can be shared for the previous leed projects,inclusive of acutal operation performance.BTW,do you have some figures about leed proects in China or asia?thanks l lot!;)

If other LEED users have cost information on their projects--what, if any, premiums they've paid to accomplish the performance required to earn certain credits, perhaps they'll post those here.

We hope to add information soon about how projects are achieving LEED certification in China--though it may take a bit longer before we can offer any cost information. Do you have any experiences to share?

George, if you have any questions concerning LEED costs and compliancy in the Middle East, please visit our website at http://www.leedintl.net. Fillout our "contact us" webpage and a representative will contact and assist you with any questions or information. Leed International has offices in Riyad, KSA.

Thank you for the work in putting this report together! Just a small note for something that seems beneficial to see in an addendum--particularly for discussion with building owners--is the return on investment for each credit (daylight building vs. non-daylight), in terms of the cost savings in utility bills, etc. over a certain time period. While I realize there are many variables in this, it would be helpful to have a range to reference within the report.

Can you post a copy of the report deleting the actual cost numbers, so that we can see how it is structured and what is covered?

Michael, I'm afraid not—the way the report is structured, showing options on how to earn the credits, is part of the content. We couldn't just strip out the cost data. Also it would be a lot of work!

If you buy the report and it doesn't meet your needs we'll give you a refund.

Michael, one other thing I forgot to mention—a sample page from the report is shown above. That should give you a sense of how it's structured and what kind of information you'll find.

Is there any way for us to enlarge the sample page above? With the report, are the costs fixed or is it a formula where we can enter costs and based on our particular project we will get an idea of what the LEED portion of the project will costs?

Sherry Bonelli, LEED Green Associate
http://www.SucceedAtLEED.com

Sherry, an enlarged image is not available, sorry. Of course, it is included inthe report, and we offer a full money-back guarantee if you purchase it and aren't satisfied.

The report shows the cost information in two ways—one, as a hard cost, and two, as a cost premium over conventinoal practice. In relevant credits, such as WEc3, various methods of earning the credit are shown, with respective costs. All the info is broken down by credit.

Sherry,

Go to your browser and zoom in. Or just buy the report, for general purposes it's a nice guide.

The true value of this document is that it allows you to show your client ( and the Professional Team ) an independant take on the costs of a LEED project ?

Especially for projects outside continental USA. Many QSs and Architects have no idea of what the costs should be and it helps instill confidence in the LEED process.

In some ways it aslo helps keep the construction material suppliers honest. I pull out the report and show them where they are overpricing ;-) This leads to some interesting conversations !

We are dealing with a project that may have difficulty reaching certification. If, after final review, you are beneath the required point threshold, is the process of adding a credit (EA 6 Green power, for instance) a simple matter of an appeal, or is adding a credit a different issue, and cost?

Rick, Check out the USGBC's "LEED Certification Policy Manual" (https://www.leedonline.com/irj/go/km/docs/documents/usgbc/leed/config/te...") , Section 14.1 (page 15). Andrew