How to Get a LEED for Homes Certification
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LEED for Homes
Your initial decision can be soul-searching with the decision of whether or not to take the LEED for Homes rating step. Typically, this rating is not that hard to achieve as long as you make the necessary preliminary steps. You will end up with a quality-built home that is durable, energy efficient and reacts to your lifestyle. Typically a LEED for Homes rated home will cost between 3 and 5 percent more that a comparable home of equal size and quality. The payback for this additional outlay of cash can come very quickly, especially at the higher ratings levels. - 2
LEED Construction Team
Next, after you have made the decision to go for a rated home, you should make an intensive search for your building and design team. This team will be comprised of yourself, an architect or designer, a builder, a landscape designer or landscape architect, a LEED for Homes Provider and a LEED for Homes Green Rater. If your search leads you to an architect or building contractor that is familiar with the system (and they should be), they can certainly help to procure the other members of the team. There will be a fee for registering the project with usgbc (United States Green Building Council), also a fee will be paid to the Provider and the Green Rater. - 3
Design Charrette
Once the team is formed, an initial design charrette should be held between all parties. In this initial charrette the project goals will be stated by the owner. The level of certification will be determined and established by going through a preliminary credit analysis on the LEED for Homes credit checklist. After this exercise you can see where you stand, what rating you can hope to achieve and what give and take areas there may be from one credit to the next. For instance you may determine that utilizing all FSC certified wood on the project is too costly for that credit, but installing a gray water harvesting systems is more in keeping with your intent and budget guidelines. In any event try to have some additional credits available to give you some breathing room. - 4). Have an addition meeting prior to starting construction with yourself, the designers, builder and any major subcontractors that will be working on-site. Discussions should be centered around the LEED for Homes programs and what will be required for everyone that this will be a team effort.
- 5). Throughout the building process, construction and systems will be required to have inspections by the Green Rater. At the end of the building project the Provider will submit documentation that the project achieved the credits applied for and will be rewarded the Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum level. You will then get recognition on your project and a plaque certifying your achievement.
