[Greenbuilding] LEED Commissioning

[Amy]

Lawrence,

Sorry, I wasn't  more specific before...the client, which is also the 
council that will approve the designation of funds to build and also 
pursue LEED, is clear about the many benefits surrounding 
environmentally conscience design.  The building was actually designed 
about a year ago without regard to LEED because the committee initially 
declined pursueing it strictly based on the registration and review 
fees.  (The budget was initially very tight)  However, since then they 
have found some wiggle room for funding and are now considering the 
possibility.  Our firm is working on another building failry comparable, 
so we were able to roughly estimate energy and water savings and do a 
preliminary scorecard for LEED certification level based on the design 
as is.  So they were already going to enjoy significant annual operating 
cost savings, without having hard evidence on actual saving/efficiency 
rates.  So, the only change in cost is that of the required 
commissioning for LEED certification, which is currently a fixed, not to 
exceed amount that is 1% of the estimated construction cost.  Since we 
are already making use of the integrated design process and other "green 
strategies" this cost is essentially the cost of having the LEED name.  
While I think there are strong arguments for pursueing LEED particularly 
because they will be using this building as the "poster child" for 
future construction and also as the basis for the pattern book that they 
have recently spent money on.  (More than then cost of commissioning, I 
would suspect).  At any rate, the committee wants an estimate on when 
they can expect payback on the cost of commissioning, since this 
building will likely not be sold for a very long time if ever, being a 
town hall.  I think deep down they know it's a good investment, but they 
are spending the taxpayers money and there are other areas that also 
need funding, so they want to make sure that they are spending the money 
they have wisely and I can't fault them for that.  I have not been able 
to check the 5-15% annual energy cost savings, but I'm working on it 
tonight and should be able to confirm it. 

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far, the biggreen website was 
really intersting and had some good information. 

Amy Ferns,  LEED AP
Torchio Architects, Inc.
354 Pennsylvania Avenue
Centreville, Maryalnd 21617
P: (410) 758-1000
F: (410) 758-1002
W: www.torchioarchitects.com
E: amy at torchioarchitects.com