March 28, 2007

LEED

New Proccesses needed for certifying LEED structures

Jean Sorensen

correspondent

VANCOUVER

Rather than thinking of building LEED accredited homes or structures, “we need to think of building whole communities” that achieve the LEED standard, Thomas Mueller, president of the Canada Green Building Council told delegates attending the Vancouver Valuation Summit held in Vancouver recently.

Mueller said repeatedly it had been proven that LEED accredited structures used less resources and were less harmful to the environment. “We know where we want to go. What we need to do is figure out how to get there,” he said. There has been an explosion of LEED standard buildings with Ontario leading the way followed by B.C. and in other provinces.

But, while LEED structures have a positive effect on the environment, there is the need to increase the numbers and the process for constructing them.

This is an area of concern for the council, he told delegates at the conference. Also, the process for certifying each building is slowed as new technology is implemented that has to be evaluated or approved. “We need some new tools and some new processes,” he said. He said that rather than certify every structure, there should be the ability to replicate a LEED certified structure and accredit all structures that used the same building process. “Rather than certify the model, certify the project,” he said. This would expedite the development of LEED standard structures.

Mueller said that Canada also needs to develop a means of rating the sustainability performance of new and existing buildings, including public buildings such as schools. The evaluation of a structure should be “performance driven”, he maintains. Those same standards should be carried into private as well as public structures. “We need to improve the performance of all buildings.”

Sandy Wiggins, chair elect of the U.S. Green Building Council, said one of the aspects of green buildings that is a struggle in the U.S. is providing a rating system that reflects the non-tangibles. “How to import the human element into the equation,” he says, as life-styles improve of those who live and work in such green structures. The homes provide a healthier environment resulting in less disease (short and long-term), while offices may yield increased employee productivity.

Studies have also shown that children attending schools built to green building standards achieved higher scores in English and math studies than those attending conventional schools.

That’s a value that is difficult in cases to quantify and place into the equation. He said often when construction is considered and new innovations such as seen in green buildings, there is a focus on up front costs. “We are measuring the wrong thing,” he said. “It’s about people.”

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