The LEED standard is one of the most widely recognized green building certifications in the world.. In this article, PYRA Engineering will introduce you to what you need to do to get a LEED certificate for your project.
Establish A LEED Certificate Goal That Correlates With A Gri Goal
The LEED certificate has four certification levels: Pass (40 – 49 points), Silver (50 – 59 points), Gold (60 – 79 points), and Platinum (over 80 points). The desired certification level and project expenditures should be correlated with the goals derived from the GRI report.
Buildings that want to improve energy efficiency need to increase passive solar collectors, control ventilation systems (HVAC) for each different area, and set up sensors and controls. This is an opportunity to optimize the built environment of the building because it is directly related to financial, and environmental social performance.
Set The Correct Budget
In many cases, at the preliminary design stage, there are constraints on the total project budget, but there are no specific constraints for each item or system. Many innovative solutions have been proposed, only redistributing the budget between the items of the total budget, and still achieve optimal performance. At the same time, due to close coordination and frequent exchange of information from the beginning, errors and conflicts are detected earlier and resolved easier, with a lower cost of correction.
Apply Life Cycle Valuation Techniques
When designing a project, determine the cost over the life of the building as well as the impact of the design on the performance of the building. Life cycle valuation techniques do not only value the initial cost but have a more comprehensive and long-term view of the entire life cycle.
Some factors, when implementing LEED standards, have high initial investment costs, but the ability to pay back pay. There are money-saving elements through reducing energy and water use enough to cover several months of running costs despite the high initial costs. This perspective also helps the project team better control the GRI track and the three key economic, environmental, and social aspects.
The Project Team Is Always On The Right Track When Pursuing A Common Goal
If all project members are not working towards the common goal, it becomes more difficult to achieve the desired results. It is necessary to share LEED, GRI, and common goals with all members such as architects, engineers, subcontractors, project managers, landscape designers, etc., as well as be open to ideas. And their comments.
Set High Goals To Foster Creativity
Setting goals higher than those required by the LEED certificate at the planning stage stimulates creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. This works especially well with early discussion that if some ideas exceed the cost limit or do not meet the cost/benefit analysis, the plan can be scaled back.
Implement Integrated Design
Performing a team design is an opportunity to bring together relevant groups, including members of the target group, and to monitor the GRI. Ensure there is a seamless integration of the project to set out the grand goals for the project in terms of economic, environmental, and social aspects.
Performing Building Energy Simulation
Energy Simulation is the job of digitizing the entire actual operation of the building to predict in advance all problems related to the air environment, natural lighting, energy systems such as lights, etc., equipment, the entire air-conditioning system, the operating cost of the building, etc. to optimize energy consumption and construction costs.
Energy Simulation helps to cut and optimize initial investment costs, optimize operating costs, and increase building user satisfaction.
One of the must-dos when pursuing a LEED certificate is that the entire building needs to perform Energy Simulation.
Hire A Leading Prestigious LEED Certification Consultant
The American Green Building Council has a process to determine understanding and experience with LEED certificates as well as knowledge of green building principles and practices. Having a team of experts with a LEED certificate will help streamline the design process, achieve certification, and especially reduce the cost of mistakes made when inexperienced. PYRA Engineering is proud to be the best solution provider for customers who commit to participating in the community of sustainable buildings. We are always ready to come up with sustainable initiatives, help customers optimize construction performance, and reasonably invest. We create added value for buildings of all sizes and grades by focusing on energy efficiency issues.
Conclusion
Getting a LEED certificate is not difficult, but you must follow a roadmap and have a clear plan. We hope this article has provided you with useful information about the LEED certificate.
