Need Some Direction..... - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

CF Construction · 03-03-2009, 10:39 PM

....after many months of working on getting this one project which consists of building a LEED certified home from the ground up out in Miami Beach we finally were rewarded the project this evening. This will be our first LEED certified project and we definitely want to take full advantage of it, especially since LEED certified homes are not many down here in Miami (at least at the moment). I, along with the G.C. and owner of the company want to find a way to certify our general contracting firm to be a LEED certified company.

My question is, based on my brief research online and in this site, it seems as if though there's many different tests which make you a "certified green builder". I was looking into the LEED certification, but than came across a bunch of other ones. Can someone direct me to the appropriate courses/tests we should be looking at and perhaps what's the difference amongst the exams?

Any and all help/advice is welcomed and very appreciated

JMD · 03-04-2009, 09:56 AM

When looking at a green building certification make sure you find one that applys to your area. Many of the green building programs are regional. The advantage of LEED is that it is nation wide. I've also heard that in some areas governments are also starting to require a certain level of LEED certification for commercial or government buildings. This won't necessarily apply to you since you are a homebuilder but it shows that the LEED program is growing pretty quickly. I personally believe that the LEED program is only going to gain popularity in the southeast (I'm in Atlanta), which is why I became a LEED AP.

If you want to become a LEED AP I would suggest doing it quickly. If you schedule your test before the end of March you will be under the old program which requires passing only one test before becoming a LEED AP. After March you will have to pass a test to become a Green Associate then after working on 2 LEED projects you will be able to take another test to become a LEED AP. After March the tests are suposed to be much more difficult too.

To prepare to take a test in March I would reccomend attending a prep course. I took the Ever Blue Energy one and they did a great job. It was a two day course. They did a good job of explaining each of the credits and the practice questions they give are huge help. I felt like some were almost word for word the same questions I saw on the exam. I took the test about 2 weeks later and easily passed. I did study a good bit in those two week but I also knew a guy in my class that took it about a week after I did and passed with only studying for two days prior to the test. If Ever Blue isn't in your area I think the USGBC website has a list of qualified instructors/courses.

As far as the different LEED tests go right now it doesn't matter which one you take. As long as you pass one of them you become a LEED AP. After March I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not.

Solar Control · 03-04-2009, 03:40 PM

South Florida chapter of USGBC

JMD's advice is spot on.

Here are a couple of my (mis)understandings about it.

Only individuals can become certified as a LEED AP, not businesses.
Both businesses and individuals can become members of the USGBC.
The last day to register for the exams is March 31. The exams for the current certification process go through June 30. If you happen to fail the exam, and it is after 3/31, you will have to go through the new process. There is a link at the site mentioned above to explain everything.

SLSTech · 03-04-2009, 07:23 PM

Main sites are located at the bottom of this article (along with the main area's the cover - dumbed down for HO's)

http://www.sls-construction.com/Articles/GB1.htm & GB2.htm

The biggest problems I see with almost all of them is the tying of all the systems together. Everyone wants the points but they don't evaluate if putting a & b together actually cause problems or meet the overall needs that are required.

CF Construction · 03-06-2009, 09:39 PM

...thanks a bunch guys.

I have another question pertaining to this......

.....if we started building this house which has many LEED certified products (solar panels, rainstore3, greenscreen, trenwyth verastone plus masonry block, everlast or rhino lumber decking, etc.) which as you can see are several items in which are of high quality, but most importantly will give you many LEED points. If we were to start this project without being LEED certified (seeing as to how we're about to start in a couple of weeks) is it possible that along the way while we're working on this project for us to get LEED certified and get credits/points for the LEED certified items that are being used in this project? Or do you only get recognition when you're a member prior to the project commencing?

JMD · 03-07-2009, 10:27 AM

First, I think with LEED for homes you do have to start the process prior to construction. There are a few prerequisites that need to be done prior to construction.

Second, you don't have to be a LEED AP, have a LEED AP work on the project or be a member of the USGBC to build a LEED certified home. This is a common misconseption. I believe you will have lower registration fees if your company is a member of the USGBC (at least it is that way for commercial buildings) but you still don't have to be a LEED AP. Also I think you have to be a member of the USGBC and not your local chapter to get the discount.

If you are going to build a LEED home you need to start by contacting a LEED for homes provider. It looks like there are 4 in Florida. 2 that actually have offices in the state and 2 that work there remotely. You can find this info on the USGBC website but the florida providers are: E3 Building Sciences, Florida Solar Energy Center, Guaranteed Watt Savers, and Steven Winter Associates.

If I were you I would get in touch with one of these providers as soon as possible. They should be able to help guide you through the process and to have a LEED certified home it is required to go through one of these providers.

If you have any other questions or need to know where to find this info on the USGBC website let me know.

CF Construction · 03-07-2009, 10:38 AM

I appreciate the information you've provided.

I'm aware you don't need to be LEED certified to build a LEED certified home, but I wanted to know if you aren't LEED certified and you start building a LEED certified home, do you still get points, or some sort of recognition in which you can use to your advantage once you do become LEED certified?

Also, we do many interior remodelings for commercial projects, would we need the commercial certification as well? And what's the difference between USGBC and GBCI? I've noticed you have to go to the GBCI website in order to register for the current version of the test prior to 03/31. I've also noticed a wide variety of different tests to take for home builders, which would be the one to take for a GC company that's about to build a LEED home and mainly does interior remodelings and new construction?

JMD · 03-07-2009, 10:56 AM

Ok, I think I misunderstood your previous question. Are the "points" you are referring to regarding becoming a LEED AP?

If so, it won't help you become a LEED AP under the current system. To be under the current system all you have to do is take and pass the test before the end of March or schedule the test before the end of March and pass that test. If you schedule the test after march or take it after march and fail it will help you. In this case you would first have to pass a test to become a Green Associate then (this is where this project will help you) you can qualify to take the LEED AP test after working on 2 different LEED projects.

As far as the projects you can work on, under the current system once you beocme a LEED AP (it doesn't matter which test you take, NC, CI, EB)you can get credit for working on any project. I'm not positive but I think it still won't matter under the new system which test you take.

The USGBC is the agency that develops the LEED standards and certifies projects. The GBCI is the agency in charge of testing. It gets confusing. Essentially the USGBC creates the material, the GBCI makes the exam to test you on that material, and prometrics is the testing company that administers the test written by the GBCI.

I believe the new construction test is the most popular and probably the one you want to take if you are going to do it this month. If not you may want to try to get in touch with the USGBC and see which one is the best fit for after March. I would think any would be acceptable but I'm not positive. You could also try contacting a test prep company as I would assume they would have the most up to date info on the new system.

CF Construction · 03-07-2009, 11:17 AM

When you're doing a LEED certified home, from what I've understood, you get points based on the "green certified" products, is this so? If so, this is why I'm interested in learning if we get "points" even though we at the moment aren't LEED certified.

JMD · 03-07-2009, 03:35 PM

Ok I think I understad now. You are correct that your project gets leed certified after earning a certain number of points (the usgbc calls them credits). You also have meet certain prerequisites.

The number of points you need to be certified depends on the size of the home, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. A larger home generally needs more points and a smaller fewer points. You can also gain different levels of certification, certified, silver, gold, and platinum.

You gain points in 8 differnt categories. The categories are Innovation and Design (ID), Location and Linkages (LL), Sustainable Sites (SS), Water Efficieny (WE), Energy and Atmosphere (EA), Materials and Resources (MR), Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ), and Awareness and Education (AE).

Each category has a different number of possible points and you will probably have to get points in each category to gain LEED certification.

What SLS was talking about is that some categories can work against others. So if you make the home really tight and energy efficient it will help you in the EA category but hurt you in the EQ category.

The green materials you listed will probably help you in the MR category, and the solar panels will help you in the EA category. You want to take a look at all the different categories and make sure you are meeting the prerequisites and earning enough points to get the certification level you want.

Finally, you don't actually earn the points untill you have completed the project. At the end you will turn all the necessary paperwork into your provider, they will review it then turn it in to the USGBC. The USGBC will then tell you if the credits are awarded or denied. You should then be able to appeal the denied credits if you want.

The process is a little different for comercial projects where you submit everything online and have a design submittal where the USGBC tells you if the credits are anticipated or denied and then a construction submittal where you submit additional info for credits not in the design submittal and find out which credits are earned or denied.