Does LEED make sense?

What is the community’s general consensus on LEED? I am currently studying to become LEED AP credentialed (for work) and a lot of the requirements for certifying a facility make sense but a lot of it seems unnecessary or unattainable for most facilities. I’ve also heard from colleagues that LEED was big a few years ago but it’s popularity has waned.
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Since no one better than me has responded yet, I'll tell you my shake at it.
I remember looking into it several years ago for a house. In discussion with some LEED certifiers, it's essentially a big waste of money. Mostly due to the exceptionally time consuming aspect of the policy to certify it. Where energystar for example conveys the same thing and is less ridiculous to certify. That was my finding maybe 5 years ago. I haven't looked into it since.
I'm not sure of how good or bad it is for commercial buildings, as I'm not in that space. Maybe architects still claim bragging rights? if they're lucky enough to have owners want to build a LEED buildings that is.
I remember the first LEED certified building I walked into, it had to be communicated by a human to me that it was certified and only then did I notice the plaques on the wall. I thought it was neat.
I suppose it's a nice to have, but it also seems like a waste of resources as the certification itself doesn't produce or evolve to anything other than a plaque. In my crazy mind, I'd be happier with myself if that time and money that the design admin & certification admin that LEED costs was put into a 100% coverage liveroof & a rainwater collection system for toilets, call that a better use of resources and make my own plaque and mount it at the entrance.
Just my thoughts,
Jamie
Thanks. I work more on the commercial side but I was planning to review some of the residential information after I get done with the commercial side to see if I could draw any inspiration there.
I would have to agree somewhat with this sentiment. I think the money would be better spent on adding environmentally friendly features as opposed to a certification. I wish that LEED was more of an organization that helped to bring down construction costs and find the best way to provide an environmentally friendly building as opposed to what seems to me to be a profit driven organization (although I haven't seen any numbers to support this assertion so take it with a grain of salt).
Krackadile,
The weakness for me is emphasis seems to shift to making sure you have the points, not the results. So you see people spending effort looking for points for things like the project being close to public transit - but that hadn't informed why they bought the lot, or the design of the building.
I remember a more worrying example of that mindset here on GBA where a poster tried to figure out how to encapsulate a non-LEED approved wood finish. The whole emphasis was on getting the requisite points back, not whether the finish might have an effect on the occupants.
What might be useful is looking at the LEED rating system to find features you would want to incorporate Into your designs, but accreditation seems meaningless.
In other words, it's process-oriented rather than outcome-oriented.
DC,
I suggested to the poster that if it was only the points they were worried about not the outcome, they simply lie about what finish they used. Some people were annoyed at that advice. I still think it's a legitimate response. Cynicism breeds cynicism I guess.
I've looked at it a bunch for residential single-family construction but not at all for commercial. I plan on eventually building a new construction home and I have a fantasy of a "plaque-wall" on the inside where I show off all the certifications I was able to get. For anyone interested, you pretty much get all of these below certifications by default if you build to PassivHaus standards:
PassivHaus Institute - Uses PHPP spreadsheet. Must achieve <= 0.6 ACH50 air-tightness, specific heating and cooling load limits, and specific energy usage limits. Receive a cool plaque.
PHIUS - Uses WUFI software. Performance or Prescriptive paths available. Performance path requires 0.06 CFM50/sq. ft. air-tightness, specific heating and cooling load limits, and specific energy usage per person limits. Receive a cool plaque.
HERS - Uses approved software like REM/Rate or other. Does not include many high-performance building systems as inputs and will require an Innovative Design Request (IDR) form to measure true HERS rating. No plaque. But overlaps with EnergyStar and DOE Zero Energy Ready Home. PHIUS raters are also HERS raters by default.
EPA WaterSense - Must achieve HERS H2O Score of <= 70 and have all WaterSense-labeled bathroom sink faucets, toilets, and showerheads. Does not require kitchen sink or tub faucets to be labeled. Receive a sticker.
EnergyStar - Must achieve low levels of source energy usage. Score of >= 75 required. Modest air tightness, insulation, and fenestration requirements as well. Receive cool glass plaque.
EPA Indoor airPLUS - Requires EnergyStar certification. No other difficult requirements. Receive a sticker. Required for DOE Zero Energy Ready Home below.
EnergyStar Advanced Lighting Package - Requires Energy Star certification and that 60% of hard-wired fixtures are Energy Star labeled and 100% of installed ceiling fans. No plaque.
DOE Zero Energy Ready Home - Uses a modified HERS Index required score. Also requires EPA Indoor airPLUS. No plaque. Eligible for $5000 IRS credit (but credit not eligible to owner-builders?).
NAHB National Green Building Standard - Various prescriptive requirements. Emerald certification level would not be that difficult to achieve. Receive a cool plaque.
USGBC LEED for Homes - Various prescriptive requirements. Silver certification level would likely be achievable. Receive a cool plaque.
Living Building Challenge CORE - Too restrictive on things other than performance.
Fortified Home - Gold certification requires special details on roof-to-wall connections, gable end connections, breezeway-to-house connections, and wind-rated garage doors. No plaque. May reduce home insurance premiums.
The ones I do NOT plan on pursuing are the EPA WaterSense (I don't care about a sticker, but I would do it if they had a plaque), EnergyStar Advanced Lighting Package (no plaque), and Living Building Challenge CORE. I will probably also only get to Silver certification with LEED because there are a lot of requirements about material sourcing etc that have nothing to do with building performance and are purely environmental that I don't really subscribe to. NAHB Green Building Standard is pretty inclusive, you can get tha maximum Emerald certification most likely if you are already achieving PHI standards.
I estimate the consultant cost of all of the ones I plan on pursuing to be about $26,500 USD, the application fees for the various organizations to be about $3,300 and the cost of the plaques (most of which you order yourself after achieving the certification) to be about $1,800. So my fantasy plaque wall will cost me about $31,600. This assumes no additional construction cost to meet any requirements, of course.
Oh man, this is some awesome information. That's quite a bit to get all those certifications.
PGH - I seem to remember that Dan Kolbert has a "sweatshop all set up, cranking out uPVC plaques". Don't recall seeing a price list... ;)
I don't have a lot of experience with LEED, mostly because of what others have mentioned above: it has always seemed more concerned about checking boxes than about real-world performance after the fact. I think LEED is well-intentioned, but it's hard to see how it's had much impact on the non-wealthy - at least in the residential market. When someone's 5th house can clock in at 14,000 square feet heated and be built on the side of a ski hill, AND get LEED-platinum... seems like a mark got missed somewhere.
On top of that, it always struck me as another way for architects to put more capital letters after their name, which always just bumps me (and yeah... I'm an architect... but I used to swing a hammer for a living, so maybe that's why).
I do know that there are a few LEED-certified buildings on the Montana State University Campus near me here in Bozeman; I had classes in one that checked all the boxes for natural daylighting, and have overheating and glare problems that made some rooms extremely uncomfortable to work in. At least I could feel "green" while I was in them.
Sorry in advance for the cynicism. On a brighter note, I assume you already own the Pretty Good House book. I love that whole philosophy, and think it is useful in WAY more applications than a LEED plaque.