Leed Certification

Has anyone done it, what is involved, is it worth it?

Started, consider it as a "ISO" cert way back in the beginning. Opens doors now for any customers who think "Green" or sell to the government. If you are ISO certified, your ISO leader should read the plan and comment. Some of the stuff is real funny. Like do you employ children in a sweat shop type questions.
 
Has anyone done it, what is involved, is it worth it?

It all depends on what type of work your company specializes in as to it's value.For me abatement demo only would not be of interest to our company..

Multi housing /commercial buildings built prior to 1978 require a lead free stasis in order to be sold and most in our multi housing territory Jersey to Virginia are now up to code.

A few years back we had 14 of our employees lead certified to remove and dispose of 900 lead painted patio decks and rails on a south Baltimore MD 4 story multi housing complex..
It was worth it to us as the same employees that removed lead painted material also built new decks and installed the new rail.

Exterior abatement is way less involved than any interior work.We wont touch old lead interiors.

To become certified you must complete a two day coarse or a W2 cert for workers and a 4 day coarse for the required foreman basically sign off guys which is a S2 cert. You usually get a group rate with 10 guys or more.

The first of the year we have 8 more guys getting W2s and two S2s for a few new Baltimore city contracts requiring exterior abatement prior to our retro fits.

Hope this helps!
 
I am building my own house in Maine. From what I can tell most of the stuff that I have done qualifies. We have SIPS panels for the walls, hardie siding for some of the house and over all we have been trying to make the house as efficient as we can. So I figure if this will help in the future value of the house then I may be interested. Especially if this Green crap keeps taking off.
 
Portland seems to have a lot of LEED structures going up recently; actually some pretty neat ideas incorporated in the designs. Should be a website detailing all the specs.- Good luck - Jeff
 
I would build it using the products and methods of green building that make sense, but I would not spend the money on the certification. IMO, in the very near future, green building practices will be like disk brakes and radial tires are to a car, standard equipment. I doubt paying extra to certify the obvious will net you any extra money when you sell.
 
Guys I just read your posts again I am talking about L.E.E.D. not LEAD. :D

Glad someone caught that! :biggrinjester:

I work for a manufacturer of construction/commerical products. We have many LEED products certified.

Is it worth it? We are seeing more and more requests for it and believe it's what we will see for future construction, and agree with BIGIII that it will be standard but who knows when. I would say yes for the short term, it will be worth it however I am only on the end that sells the products, so I'm not certain what is involved to get certified as a contractor, etc.

There is a LEED council that can give you further information.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I guess I will waite for the local guy to call me to see what is involved. If it is not to hard or to much paperwork then maybe I will go for it.
 
Glad someone caught that! :biggrinjester:

I work for a manufacturer of construction/commerical products. We have many LEED products certified.

Is it worth it? We are seeing more and more requests for it and believe it's what we will see for future construction, and agree with BIGIII that it will be standard but who knows when. I would say yes for the short term, it will be worth it however I am only on the end that sells the products, so I'm not certain what is involved to get certified as a contractor, etc.

There is a LEED council that can give you further information.

I also believe there is currently government funding for over half of the costs.
 
If it is not too hard or too much paperwork then maybe I will go for it.

In the commercial construction world, it is a lot of paperwork and fairly complex the first couple times you go through it. Most general contractors involved with LEED have specific people that deal with LEED certifications. I have worked on several LEED projects and I find the positive changes taking place in construction to be quite fascinating. Some things are a pain, but I think the end result more well thought out plan and a better finished product.
 
It all depends on why you are pursuing LEEDs cert. I am not really sure about the re-saleability, but would think that it can only help.

If you are considering it to maximize the sustainability of your home for maximum efficiency and longevity than I would say it is well worth the effort.

There definitely is paperwork involved...

My close friend built the first platinum cerified LEEDs school in the country in NJ and it is an amazing building. Practically everything is made from recycled material such as cut up blue jeans cotton for insulation, child specific sized furniture made from trees taken down on site, reclaimed cork floors, reclaimed gigantic stone pavers for sidewalks, a post and beam barn sturcure frame, dry toilets (that don't smell), and the entire school recycles all the rain water into a special pond resulting in water more pure than available from the town. Much much more, but very cool all-around and the school emphasizes this sustainability with thier students.
 
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