FEATURE ARTICLE, APRIL 2010

LEED LULL?
Green-building survey findings include 16 percentage-point drop in support of USGBC's certification program in past 3 years.
Bryan Jackson

Jackson

A recent, annual green-building survey of more than 1,600 construction and design professionals from across the nation found that most continue to strongly endorse green building — 96 percent in 2007, 93.5 percent in 2008 and 92.3 percent in 2009. However, the support for LEED certification (the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard) continued to slip, though at a slower pace than the previous year — 77.4 percent in 2007, 66.4 percent in 2008 and 61.7 percent in 2009. Despite the cumulative decline of about 16 percentage points in 3 years, the level of support for LEED remains high at 61.7 percent compared to the original goal when LEED was launched of representing 25 percent of all construction projects.

Several factors may explain the slip in LEED’s support:

• While LEED Silver certification is required for all new California state buildings, CALGreen I and II certification rather than LEED certification will be used under California’s statewide Green Building Standards Code.

• While LEED Silver certification is required for all new U.S. General Services Administration building projects, High Performance Building Standards rather than LEED are required under the president’s sweeping federal green Executive Order 13154.

• The Green Point Rating program for Build it Green, Green Globes and other certification processes are gaining in popularity.

Finally, the overwhelming support for green construction may offset arguments that LEED’s slip is due to ongoing controversies in the global warming science arena. Also, many believe the new 2009 version of LEED creates greener and more sustainable projects with a stronger emphasis on reducing emissions, increasing commissioning and conducting ongoing measurements and verification.

The survey found saving energy costs topped the reasons for building green. Further, 97.5 percent believe that energy costs will continue to increase over time, and 88.6 percent indicated that they are more likely to include energy saving elements in future construction projects.

The respondents indicated that the perceived risks of building green projects are somewhat higher than the risks of building non-green projects. Respondents hope to mitigate green construction risks by retaining LEED-AP consultants; maintaining measurement, testing and verification of building systems; and implementing contractual risk shifting.

The use of green leases is rising.  Approximately 30 percent of respondents indicated that they or their clients use green leases. A green lease is a lease for a green space that aligns green incentives with the party who can benefit the most, all to ensure cost savings, energy efficiency and conservation.

The survey asked for the added cost, if any, to build and certify a project to LEED-NC Gold. About 28 percent of respondents indicated that LEED-NC Gold added 2 to 3 percent to construction costs, and 51.1 percent indicated that it added 4 percent or more to construction costs. Perhaps the 3 percent-or-less group represents jurisdictions where minimum building codes already require higher levels of green and sustainable construction, such as in California. Further, the experience of the project team and the complexity of the project can have a significant impact on the cost of a LEED Gold project.

Carbon credits remained flat. Nearly 17 percent of respondents have undertaken a carbon-footprint analysis for their companies. This number is only up slightly from the previous year. Also, 41 percent of respondents feel that carbon-footprint analysis is an important element of their firm’s strategy, which was up 3 percentage points from the previous year. Finally, the purchase of carbon offsets, which is largely voluntary today has stayed the same at about 7.5 percent. The view here is not to expect a significant change in carbon offsets unless a national program is adopted.

Bryan Jackson is a partner with the law firm of Allen Matkins, an adjunct professor at USC teaching green and sustainable construction, and the editor of the Green Building Update.

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