GSA LEED Cost Study
This report from GSA is a review of the hard and soft cost implications of achieving LEED certification.
The Cost of Green Revisited
This paper from Davis Langdon is a sequel to an earlier paper entitled "Cost of Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budget Methodology." This update looks at the cost of green by examining a larger sampling of buildings and looking at additional building types.
The Cost of LEED: A Report on Cost Expectations to Meet LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations
A 47-page report from BuildingGreen, LLC published in April 2010. Cost premiums (if any) are explored for each credit, with alternate scenarios. $49 download.
The CALGreen Resource Center for Alameda County
The resource center includes the CALGreen Companion Guide for LEED Projects, which provides recommendations for reducing the documentation burden on LEED-NC commercial projects that must meet the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen) non-residential mandatory provisions. The Companion Guide is intended for building officials as well as design professionals. This Companion Guide does not address the voluntary “Tiers” in CALGreen, nor does it address residential CALGreen mandatory code requirements.
CalGreen Info from California Building Standards Commission
A link to the actual code, along with separate guides to the residential and nonresidential measures, commissioning requirements, and certification options for inspectors and plan reviewers.
2010 California Green Building Standards Code
The official CalGreen document in PDF format: California Code of Regulations Title 24, Chapter 11. Includes chapters for mandatory residential measures, mandatory nonresidential measures, and nonmandatory measures for both.
LEED 2009 for Core and Shell Development
MPRs for Core and Shell appear after the Introduction within the downloadable v3 rating system PDF.
Minimum Program Requirements
The official page about MPRs from USGBC, links to a document that lists the requirements for all LEED 2009 rating systems; and another one that provides supplemental guidance on how those requirements are to be implemented in practice. The MPRs themselves are locked in until the next version of LEED comes out, but the Supplemental Guidance doc will be updated periodically--share your feedback and suggestions in the comments below!
SonicLQ: Reconnecting Acoustics and Airtightness
Early on in our work on energy-efficient homes, the connection between airtightness and sound centered on airport noise; now a new technology reconnects acoustics and air leakage
by Peter Yost
Back in the early days of airport noise mitigation programs, there was a pretty strong link between air leakage and sound. A document titled “Tips for Insulating Your Home Against Aircraft Noise” noted, “Sound travels from the exterior to the interior of the home in two ways: through solid structural elements and through the air…. Wherever air can infiltrate a home, sound can as well.”