Building green is a trend on the rise in the New England area. According to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, “high-performance buildings are the future. As we continue to grow our city, we will do so in a way that is even more sustainable. Green buildings are good for the environment, public health, and the bottom line.” In fact, the Menino administration recently passed a new zoning code that requires developers of new buildings of 50,000 square feet or more to incorporate more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly machines, materials and designs into their projects. It’s one of the strictest green building programs adopted by a municipality in the country. And now, building green is an environmentally responsible endeavor that’s gaining interest among owners and developers throughout Massachusetts, even without a “mandatory” status.

What Is LEED?

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system. It’s a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the framework they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performances. The certification promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: Sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Points are crafted by the USGBC to ensure certified projects further this agenda.

It’s one thing to say that you want to build green, but taking the initiative to get LEED certified can be a complicated process. It is about more than simply using recycled materials – it’s a very specific list of qualifications that assesses how green a project really is. For an owner or developer, it can be difficult to figure out which elements on the list are feasible for a particular project, so it’s important to surround yourself with people who have done this before.

Hiring Help

There are many benefits an owner can reap by hiring a knowledgeable contractor for a project seeking LEED certification. Top reasons include:

• Fewer surprises – As with anything, learning about LEED is a gradual process. The more experience your contractor has with the process and the requirements, the less likely you are to run into surprises along the way. For example, there’s a significant amount of paperwork and documentation that must be accumulated and submitted as backup for each LEED point before it’s awarded to your job. Without a plan for who will be responsible for that documentation, which can take up to an additional 150 to 200 hours of work, you’ll have a daunting task at the end of the project accounting for proof of your work. That would certainly be an unpleasant surprise.

• Breaking down the additional cost – Achieving LEED certification requires a lot of planning. You need to decide which points make sense for your job and how many points you’ll need to attain the level of certification you’re striving for. But all that work is pointless unless cost is factored in. By involving a knowledgeable contractor in the early preconstruction phase of planning for LEED qualification, you can rely on them to calculate the cost of pursuing particular points. For example, Erland Construction is working toward achieving LEED certification for a sustainable dormitory project. During preconstruction, Erland contractors sat down with the architect and the owner to determine which LEED points would be targeted. The architect then proposed a specialty door that would help Erland gain a point; however, the doors came at a hefty $40,000 cost for the owner. Without a rough estimate from a contractor, the owner might have gone forward with the plans without being made aware of just how much that additional cost would have been. After realizing the cost, that particular point was abandoned in favor of other points that brought usefulness and value to the owner.

• Knowledge of subcontractor base – So, you’ve made it through the preconstruction process and decided on the points you’ll need for your LEED certification and which level of certification you’re striving for. Now, all you have to do is figure out how you’ll actually implement them. Who will provide the formaldehyde-free doors that have been specified in your drawings? Who will recycle your old materials? A general contractor/construction manager with LEED experience will know which subcontractors provide these services based on past experience. Plus, a knowledgeable GC/CM can teach a subcontractor who is willing to learn.

• Ease of mind – Ultimately, as an owner, you want peace of mind. You want to know that you can count on your construction manager to meet the schedule, stay on budget and obtain LEED certification points. Of course, no one can ever guarantee a perfect job, but the more experience you have on your team, the more you can avoid potential problems along the way.

Statistics have shown that building more energy-efficient and sustainable buildings is not only good for the environment, but good for the productivity and morale of employees and building-users. The trend will continue to grow and it’s important to remember that if you’re going to put the time and money into building green, you can save yourself the hassle of trying to figure the process out on your own. Make sure that you put hiring a knowledeable, experienced general contractor/construction manager high up on your priority list.