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LEED-ing the Way with Sustainable Design in Architecture with Michael & Casey – Ep. 028
About the Guests
I am excited to share this next conversation with all of you. Michael and Casey both practice architecture at CORE Architects in Rogers, Arkansas. Both are LEED accredited professionals as well as architects. I think you’ll enjoy our candid discussion on the importance of LEED Certification and sustainable design in architecture today.
Michael received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arkansas in 2006. Upon graduating, he worked in Chicago from 2006 to 2015 as designer and project coordinator at an international architecture firm on various large-scale projects. Michael returned to Northwest Arkansas and joined CORE Architects in May of 2015 with a desire to give back to the community that provided so much opportunity for him.
Casey attended Oklahoma State University and received a Bachelor of Architecture in 2010 with a minor in Architectural History Theory. In 2011, she moved to Arkansas and quickly fell in love with the Northwest Arkansas region. Her can-do attitude, attention to detail, and capacity to work on every aspect of all project types make her an integral part of the team at CORE Architects.
CORE Architects offers both architectural and interior design services, with experience in master planning mixed-use developments. Their experience ranges from preparing needs-assessment studies, conceptual design options, construction cost estimates, preparation of construction documents and specifications, bid packages, through full construction administration, including shop drawing review, payment application review, and project close-out. You can find out more about CORE Architects here: http://www.core-arch.com/
In this episode, we are going to discuss the LEED certification methodology for designing buildings, first steps when tackling a LEED project, and the common myths about LEED accreditation that they often see and how they would bust those myths.
Main Take-Away’s From This Show
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the early 90’s. LEED was created to be a third-party certification program that would recognize a standard of design, construction, and ultimately operation of “green” building design. Although the cost and marketability of the LEED certification has been widely criticized, most do not discount the impact that this certification has had on the green building movement. Casey and Michael are both LEED accredited professionals with experience in LEED design. The main take-aways I got from this candid conversation with Casey and Michael in this “unofficial” LEED certification discussion are as follows:
- There are various levels of LEED Certification for buildings with varying degrees of difficulty.
- In order to truly design a LEED Certified building, the sustainable discussions need to be made early in the design process.
- Although LEED has been criticized over the years, the impact LEED has had on the industry can not be disputed.
As always, I will dig into each of these “take-away’s” every week on the blog. So, without further a due, here we go!
There are various levels of LEED Certification for buildings with varying degrees of difficulty.
The LEED rating system for the various types of projects consists of four different levels. The first, and lowest, level is the LEED Certified designation. This is achieved by scoring 40-49 points on the LEED checklist. Due to the increasingly efficient systems required by the various codes, this often fairly easy to achieve in most cases. Moving up the scale of difficulty for LEED certification is the Silver (50-59 points), Gold (60-70 points), and Platinum (80+ points).
The majority of projects that obtain LEED certification are LEED Certified as expected. However, many organizations are starting to push the envelope and requiring LEED silver at a minimum. As we discussed in the show, the higher you go up in the levels of certification, the greater the need for upfront planning and discussion. Which leads to our next point.
In order to truly design a LEED Certified building, the sustainable discussions need to be made early in the design process.
I loved this discussion as we highlighted the many decisions that need to be made when pushing for a LEED certified project. Many of these design decisions need to be made extremely early in the design process. For those pushing towards achieving platinum certification, even before the site is selected. Many of the points in the current LEED certification checklist require adjacency to various uses as well as public transit. Achieving credits that require site specific conditions are difficult (if not impossible) to achieve after a site has been selected.
The discussion also highlighted the fact that many architects and engineers should have the various design principles such as massing, siting, and other initial design characteristics in mind to begin with (despite whether or not they are trying to achieve LEED certification). This was a great point. We should, as designers, be looking for ways to optimize design and construction for sustainable outcomes whether we have the goal to achieve certification or not.
Regardless, these discussions should be had early in the design process as very many of the credits hinge on the initial layout for design. Once this initial period has passed and design charrettes are complete, it is very hard to reverse coarse and re-design the site without causing additional design fees. If planned correctly, you can significantly reduce many costs associated with LEED certification and ensure your project is a success.
Although LEED has been criticized over the years, the impact LEED has had on the industry cannot be disputed.
This last take-away is one that has caused plenty of debate over the years. The LEED certification itself has often taken a lot of heat for being too expensive to achieve and often too costly to construct. However, the impact the LEED accreditation has on the sustainability of the real estate development and construction industry cannot be argued.
The LEED certification process has continued to challenge the status quo on responsible design and construction. New adoptions of the LEED versions have spurred adoption of various energy codes to increase their standards as well. This requires entire industries of suppliers for various mechanical equipment’s to pivot and provide more sustainable technologies. In turn it allows for lowered construction costs for greater efficiencies by mass adoption of the mechanical suppliers.
It can’t be disputed that the LEED accreditation has been good for people, profits, and the environment. Owner’s and developers can recognize the benefits of LEED by increased asset value, lowered utility expenses, and greater marketability. Even if you believe that the credential is not worth the cost, you cannot argue that the increased awareness of sustainable construction techniques that LEED has brought to the industry has had an immense impact on the way we design going forward.
As you can see from the take-aways above, this podcast episode was full of great information on the topic of LEED certified buildings and the design behind them. As always, if you have enjoyed the content and the show, please subscribe to the show below and share with your friends! We’ll have many more great discussions on the shows to come.
To Learn More About Casey, Michael, and CORE Architects, Check out the Following Websites:
Resources Mentioned:
Recommended Reading Section
For more on a behind the scenes look at the discipline of architecture, check out Episode 2 with Josh Kunkel to give you a perspective on how to select the Architect on your next Real Estate Development project.
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