Demystifying the LEED for Homes Process

By Bryan Youngblood | July 2009 - Lately in Chattanooga, LEED has dominated headlines—coverage has spanned everything from exciting new LEED certified developments many months away to the latest building certifications. But for homeowners, the question remains, “so what is LEED and what does it have to do with me?” We thought our LEED AP Project Manager Bryan Youngblood could break it down and give some insight into the LEED process. He is an expert in green building, and serves as Collier Construction’s (not so) secret weapon.

At Collier Construction, we know that the future of homebuilding is sustainable construction, intelligent use of resources, local materials, and energy efficiency. We have worked to stay on top of the green building revolution by pursuing LEED accreditation and building LEED certified projects. Among them are the Madison Street Homes, green|spaces, and the Habitat House in Jefferson Heights. The LEED process forces us to be creative with materials and resources, try new applications, and to think differently about construction.

Among the six LEED certification programs, LEED for Homes helps owners and builders attain the ambitious goal of “green building” by providing a template and point system that clarifies the green building and design process. LEED for Homes is tailored to single and multi-family residential construction and differs from LEED for Commercial (LEED for NC), which has a more stringent accreditation process with more involvement from 3rd party consultants and energy raters.

Still, LEED for Homes is time consuming, and for most of us, the process is confusing. So here’s a way we can all understand it.

The Team

First things first. Where traditional homebuilding employs a single contractor to oversee the entire process, a successful LEED project begins with a team of professionals who start the design process together. These professionals have a multitude of specialties in a range of areas including architecture, design, sustainable construction, and landscape architecture—to name a few. Once you have a team, the design process begins.

To earn LEED certification, the design is tailored around green-conscious criteria that the team will implement during construction. The design of a LEED home includes a list of items that are specific to every component of a home including the project site, construction practices, materials and equipment. This list of design criteria is a preliminary part of the LEED process. It helps influence and shape the applicable LEED credits and is submitted to a green rater who will ultimately help verify that the home meets the LEED rating system requirements.

The Green Rater

The green rater is a 3rd party individual appointed by a LEED provider to review design and construction, verify that the home meets LEED standards and submits application for certification. The green rater is involved throughout the project to carry out inspections (LEED inspections do NOT replace local code enforcement inspections) and assist with the certification process. After effectively implementing the design and passing inspections, a home owner can confidently know that their home is sustainable.

The green rater assesses your design and assigns the project a preliminary HERS rating. HERS (Home Energy Rating System) is a rating based on the project’s design criteria being implemented properly. From the outset, the design criteria and HERS rating should form a comprehensive plan and specific goals for the project as well as suggest the obtainable certification level (platinum, gold, silver or certified). After construction is complete and LEED testing is done the green rater will recalculate the HERS rating based on performance tests and actual construction methods.

Points & Credits

Because LEED is a points-based system, each design criteria specified in the beginning, if implemented correctly and verified, counts toward certification. This requires pre-planning, great attention to detail and much diligence from all team members. And each design criteria accomplished successfully is one part of a ‘whole systems approach’ to green building. This means that each LEED credit is a piece of a much larger ‘whole system’ puzzle and is necessary to bring the LEED project to fruition.

To effectively manage the LEED process, many tasks must be completed during construction. Design criteria such as properly sealing all of the ductwork and air gaps as well as managing storm water runoff and using native drought tolerant landscaping must be visually verified by the builder and green rater. Any paperwork or documentation for equipment and materials is filed for later use, and mandatory inspections must take place during and after construction. If all of the design criteria are followed, the last part of the process should be a breeze. All of the paperwork and verification must be pulled together in the LEED format and submitted for certification.

So Why LEED?

While a LEED certification may seem unnecessary to most homeowners, the rigorous process guarantees that a home is built to high standards and with many parties overseeing the entire process. For some customers, it is all about the peace of mind that comes along with LEED certification. And LEED is a great ways to advertise your home’s sustainability and add to its value. And the value of LEED certification remains constant throughout the lifetime of the home – no matter how many times the home changes ownership and no matter how many years pass, the home will always be LEED certified.

However, some of Collier’s customers choose to go green without pursuing certification. And because Collier uses its whole systems approach with proven results, our customers receive the green benefits with no paperwork or additional administrative needs. These customers know their home is green because of their utilities bills and because they were expertly advised every step of the way. At Collier we believe that by building better quality with a more intelligent use of resources your home is automatically green.