LEED for Municipalities:

1

• LEED for Municipalities
• An Overview and Guidelines for Implementation

2

• Contents
• Overview
• Green Building
• USGBC
• LEED
• Making the Business Case
• Examples in the Industry
• Case Study
• City of Boulder Process
• Funding and Allocation
• Consultant Process
• Recommendations
• Next Steps
• Tools and Resources

3

• Environmental Impact of U.S. Buildings
• 65.2 of total U.S. electricity consumption
• gt 36 of total U.S. primary energy use
• 30 of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
• 136 million tons of U.S. construction and
  demolition waste
• 12 of potable water in the U.S.
• 40 (3 billion tons annually) of raw materials
  use globally

4

• Defining Green Design
• Green
• High Performance
• Ecological
• Sustainable
• Whole System
• Restorative
• Regenerative
• Elegant
• Efficient
• Resource Conservation
• Cost Effective
• Use the language which appeals to your audience

5

• Benefits of Green Building
• Economic
• Reduce operating costs
• Increase building valuation, occupancy, ROI
• Productivity
• Health and Safety
• Enhance occupant comfort and health
• Reduce liability
• Community
• Minimize strain on local infrastructures and
  improve quality of life
• Environment
• Reduce the impacts of natural resource consumption

6

• U.S. Green Building Council
• Non-profit organization based in Washington, DC
• Membership by companies across building industry
• Consensus driven
• Goal of market transformation towards green
  building
• As a balanced, consensus coalition representing
  the entire building industry, the USGBC promotes
  the design, construction, and operation of
  buildings that are environmentally responsible,
  profitable, and healthy places to live and work.

7

• LEED Green Building Rating System
• Leadership in Energy Environmental Design
  (LEED)
• Third Party Verification / Certification of
  Performance
• Tool for Team / Building Integration
• Checklist of Greening Strategies
• Defines Green Building
• Sets Quantifiable Targets and Goals
• Tool for Benchmark and Comparison Across
  Buildings

8

• Applying LEED
• Checklist of Available Strategies / Points
• Contains Prerequisites and Credits
• Requires Team Wide Collaboration / Participation
• Initiate (Register) During Design
• Certify After Occupancy

9

• LEED Products
• New Construction (NC)
• Existing Buildings (EB)
• Commercial Interiors (CI)
• Under Development
• Core and Shell (CS)
• Home (H)
• Neighborhood Developments (ND)

10

• LEED Application Guides
• Under Development
• Lodging
• Campus
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Laboratories
• Schools

LEED was designed for commercial projects. These
guides support application in other project types.
11
LEED Categories Sustainable Sites (1
prerequisites / 14 points) Water Efficiency (0
prerequisites / 5 points) Energy and Atmosphere
(3 prerequisites / 17 points) Materials and
Resources (1 prerequisites / 13 points) Indoor
Environmental Quality (2 prerequisites / 15
points)
12

• LEED-NC Levels of Certification
• Total Points 69
• Certification at Four Levels
• Certified (26- 32 points)
• Silver (33-38 points)
• Gold (39-51 points)
• Platinum (52 points)

Basic LEED Certification is designed to be one
step above code, and ratchets up along side code
and standard practice.
13

• LEED Certification Process
• Identify target points
• (not every credit is appropriate for every
  project)
• Register project with USGBC declaring intent to
  use LEED (750-3,000 fee based on size)
• Identify responsible team members for each point
• (this is an integrated effort)
• Collect and submit documentation
• Building Certification
• (1,500-7,500 fee based on size)

14
Documenting LEED Compliance

• Signed Letter Template declaring achievement
• Supporting documentation in some cases,
  including calculations, plans, cut sheets, etc.

15

• Cost of Green Building Factors
• Location
• Baseline
• Owner/ Team Values
• Climate
• Timing of Implementation
• Building Size
• Building Scope
• How Much Does it Cost to Build Green It Depends.

16

• Cost of Green Building and LEED
• Studies show a 0-3 average premium on total
  project costs for LEED buildings with lt5 year
  payback
• Costs are generally attributed to increased
  design time, modeling and commissioning
• Studies show that costs associated with LEED are
  reduced / eliminated with team experience
• From a life-cycle perspective (costs over time)
  green building and LEED are generally considered
  a good investment

17

• RFP Language to Avoid Inflated Bid Costs
• Contractor shall.
• Deliver a finished work product that assists
  the owner in achieving a LEED Certification for
  the building
• NOT
• Ensure that the building achieves LEED
  Certification

18

• Other Rating System Tools
• EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager
• Addresses opportunities related to energy only
• Limited to specific building types within
  existing database
• GreenGlobes
• On-line questionnaire
• Linked to EPA Target Finder (with limited
  database)
• 150 yes / no / NA questions in 7 category areas
• Not consensus based
• Not science based

19
LEED in the Marketplace 5 of Commercial
Buildings in U.S. 250 Certified Projects (NC,
EB and CI) 2000 Registered Projects (NC, EB and
CI)
USGBC is targeting a 25 market penetration with
LEED
As of 5.05
20
LEED-NC Market Transformation Registered
Projects by Building Type
As of 12.08.04
21
LEED-NC Market TransformationRegistered Projects
by Owner Type
As of 12.08.04
22
LEED Users by State

Every State in the U.S. has LEED Registered
Project(s)
23
LEED-NC Users
State
Municipal

• California
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Washington

• Austin, TX
• Boston, MA
• Boulder, CO
• Chicago, IL
• Los Angeles, CA
• Portland, OR
• San Jose, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA

Not limited to these examples
24

• LEED Application for Municipalities
• Portland, OR
• Requires that all city owned new construction
  projects meet LEED-NC Gold
• Requires that all tenant improvements to city
  owned facilities meet LEED-CI Silver
• Requires that all city operations and maintenance
  meet local guidelines which are designed to meet
  LEED-EB
• Cook County, IL
• All county projects must meet LEED certification
  including 8 LEED EAc1 Energy Optimization credits
  (50 cost reduction compared to ASHRAE)

25

• LEED Application
• Atlanta, GA
• All city funded projects over 5k SF or
• 2 million must meet LEED Silver. Exempt
  projects must complete LEED checklist.
• Arlington, VA
• All site plan applications must include a
  completed LEED scorecard and have a LEED-AP on
  the team
• Projects that earn LEED Silver can develop at a
  higher density
• All projects contribute to a green building fund
  which is refunded if project earns LEED
  certification

26

• LEED Application
• Calabasas, CA
• All non-residential city and privately owned
  buildings between 500-5,000 SF must meet LEED
  Certified level
• Building over 5,000 SF must meet LEED Silver
• Frisco, TX
• All non-single family residential developments
  must submit a LEED checklist completed by a
  LEED-AP and with a cost estimate for each point
• Issaquah, WA
• Developers intending to use LEED receive free
  consultation (provided by City) and are placed at
  head of permit review line

27

• Application of Green Building Programs Factors
• City structure
• City leadership
• Funding
• Departments
• Education
• Incentives
• Cities have different frameworks and challenges
  to enable innovative and effective programs

28

• Colorados Building Climate
• No State adopted building and energy code
• Home rule State
• Supports voluntary compliance
• Supports energy and resource efficiency
• Supports early adopters

29

• LEED Certified Projects in Colorado
• CH2M Hill (3 buildings)
• Belmar 2M3
• Boulder Recreation Center
• Boulder Community Hospital
• Denver Place
• Russell T. Tutt Science Center
• U.S. Department of Transportation
• Snowmass Golf Clubhouse
• Aspen Sundeck
• Colorado Springs Utilities Laboratory
• Additionally there are over 35 registered
  projects

7.05
30

• The Boulder Story Background
• Conscious History of Land Use Planning
• Guiding Documents
• Supporting Policies
• Community Involvement

31

• The Boulder Story
• City Departments and Funding
• Invested departments
• Interdepartmental partnerships
• State funding
• Departments funding allocation
• Business process
• Long-term budget process

32

• The Boulder Story
• LEED Consultant and Local Developer team up
• Cross-education (what is LEED? What isnt LEED?)
• Building and Land Use Code / LEED Comparison
• Barriers
• Local Climate/ Cultural Considerations
• Implementation Considerations
• Charrettes with City staff to review thoughts and
  findings along the way

How can we use LEED to inform Boulder codes and
support better commercial building practices?
33

• The Boulder Story Evaluation
• LEED / Green Building strategies were evaluated
  with
• regards to
• Cost Impact
• To the Builder
• Environmental and Community Benefit
• Overall
• Implementation Difficulty
• For the City

34

• The Boulder Story Requiring LEED?
• Initiated process with goal of making code
  equivalent to LEED certified level
• Difficult to codify enough LEED credits that all
  commercial buildings meet LEED (26 points)
• Focused on eliminating barriers to pursuing LEED
  
• Focused on meeting the intent of LEED with
  regards to the effectiveness of green building

35

• The Boulder Story Requiring LEED?
• Showers in Boulder?
• Require operable windows?
• Reduced development footprint?
• Required material and product specifications?
• Paints?
• Carpet?
• Composite wood?
• Recycled content?

LEED is not a code, it is an effective and
integrated benchmarking tool. LEED can be used to
frame opportunities for resource and cost
effective building.
36

• The Boulder Story Code Recommendations
• Require bike racks and carpool parking for 5 of
  occupants or 1 rack / 2,000 SF
• Require light colored / shaded paving and roofing
• Limit irrigation water availability / require
  xeriscaping
• Eliminate barriers to waterless urinals and
  composting toilets
• Require independent building commissioning gt 10k
  SF
• Require energy analysis gt 20k SF
• Require job site recycling
• Require CO2 monitoring
• Require air quality management plan/
  implementation
• Not limited to these examples

37

• The Boulder Story Recommended Incentives
• How to support building specific applications of
  effective green strategies?
• Green Building Fund
• All projects pay into fund - Refunded if
  certified
• Valuation Exemption
• Green products excepted from permit valuation
• Density Bonus
• Site density allowance bonuses for certification
• Fast Track Review
• LEED projects move to the head of the line
• Energy Efficiency Certification
• License private professionals to review and
  verify energy requirements, streamlining City
  process

38

• The Boulder Story
• Challenges to Implementation
• Department ownership prioritization
• Business process
• Staff resources
• Budget cycle
• Staff education training
• Integration of existing process vs. new process
  

39

• The Boulder Story Next Steps
• Internal City prioritization Goal Committee
• Stakeholder sessions to gather input, strengthen
  plan, solicit recommendations
• Stakeholder review of proposed changes
• Internal City budget funding
• Internal City staff education / training
• Workshops fact sheets for public
• Community educational events / training

40

• Greening the City Action Steps
• Understand what it is costing to NOT build green
• Examine zoning, permits, codes and procedures for
  barriers to building green
• Set short and long term goals
• Identify champions and track implementation
• Integrate team upfront
• Adopt standards
• Identify and implement low hanging fruit
• Provide incentives
• Measure benefits
• Ongoing education

41

• www.usgbc.org/chapters/colorado
• Learn about green building
• Advocacy support
• Gain recognition as a green professional
• Local materials database
• Guidelines for selecting green professionals

42

• For more information contact
• Elizabeth Vasatka, City of Boulder
• 303-441-1964 / Vasatkae_at_ci.boulder.co.us
• Lauren Yarmuth Denner, DOMANI
• 303-232-0193 / Lauren.denner_at_domani-llc.com