LEED Certification Management

 

Value added service, unparalleled attention to our clients, and experienced project managers, all on an information friendly platform that supports the free-flow of messaging, file sharing, scheduling, and tasks.

 

Overview

Several companies offer LEED Certification management services, few offer the level of quality that we do.

Details

Our LEED Certification Management provides quality, expert oversight of the LEED Certification process. In addition to ample experience with LEED, your project manager is equipped with powerful online workspace collaboration tools which enhance the LEED experience by allowing easy information sharing. Depending on the project, we develop and submit all credits, or guide other parties such as property managers or building operators through the entire process. The anticipated result, is LEED Certification.

Our goal is to be the single leading provider of LEED Certification services in the Rocky Mountain Region which requires that we offer exceptional value added service within every stage of the project, accurate credit submittals, unparalleled attention to our clients, and experienced project managers, all on an information friendly platform the supports the free-flow of messaging, file sharing, scheduling, and tasks.

Online Project Collaboration

We have a range of experience managing multi-party construction projects and utilize online project management collaboration tools that can easily integrate into Outlook, e-mail services, iPhones and iPads. The result is that the entire project is streamlined and easily integrated into existing communication platforms. In a sense, we have “enhanced” the traditional role of a project manager by starting with the standard foundation and adding a layer of technology to leverage the capabilities of these tools. Because our online collaboration tools are also integrated into any e-mail service, you don’t have to worry about a contractor not having the tech skills to use it. Everything starts in the online workspace and ends in an e-mail and phone call, to ensure constant contact. However, we do not solely rely on this platform and also use extensive traditional project management attributes such as face-to-face and constant phone calling to ensure items are installed as scheduled.

Our online project portal includes:

  • Messages
  • Task Items
  • To-Do Lists
  • Task Assignment
  • Scheduling
  • Milestones
  • File Sharing
  • General Project Management Attributes
  • All through a personalized and simple platform…

What our LEED Certification Management Includes

Every building is different which may require an array of LEED related project management and preparation. Our LEED Certification Management is intended to transform your building into a high performance building at the most cost effective rate. Some of the general things we provide are:

The Pre-Certification Process

If your building will need a higher Energy Star Score that what it currently has, increasing the energy performance will be the first priority because it is the most time sensitive. This is because the Energy Star Score is based on 12 months of energy performance, which means that the score will take several months to be impacted by energy efficiency changes. For example, if a robust energy efficient retrofit is implemented and reduces energy needs by 50% for 2 months, because the Energy Star Score takes into account 12 months, the net effect is only about an 8% total change. This is why we implement energy efficiency into the project as early as possible, which also gives us time to integrate many other LEED components while the energy performance is increasing. Read more about the LEED Pre-Certification here…

The LEED Certification Process

Nowadays, the LEED Certification process is largely about strategy, cost engineering, and process management.

In the early days of LEED, not so far from today, simply deciphering what the process meant and how to achieve certification was a major part of the process. Issues like figuring out what materials/products to use, what vendors could offer adequate services that met LEED standards, and what the standards even meant, was a feat in its own. With the evolution and market acceptance of the certification, these questions are much easily answered. Though they still require ample consideration and time, materials and products now have easier labels to decipher, vendors have realized that there is now a new market for green building services, and the standard has been well publicized so there is a plethora of information as to what the certification body is looking for.

Strategy

LEED offers a flexible, somewhat customizable way to achieve a high performance building. This means that it is up to the project team to develop the most potent strategy possible to reach the desired end result. There are minimum requirements of a project which must be met, in addition to credit prerequisites that also mush be achieved. Meeting some of these minimum standards can be easy for some buildings that have high levels of management and performance, while other buildings may require substantial time to get there. After the minimum requirements are met, a project is more or less free to choose which categories it would like to incorporate into the building.

Many of the different credits require more time and money to develop than others. The range in cost for each credit can largely depend on the existing configuration, though they generally vary from no cost, mid cost, and high cost. As a result, developing an effective strategy largely depends on what level of certification the building will be going for, as well as both internal and external factors related to the project. For instance, if an owner is only interested in achieving the basic level of certification, Certified Level, it makes the most sense to go for credits that are either already implemented or least costly/time consuming. In this case, unless internal or external factors are demanding components related to some of the higher cost items, it would make the most sense to peruse the easiest credit opportunities to the extent that Certified Level, plus a few points, is reached. Conversely, if the desired level of certification is Silver, than pursing many of the low and mid cost credits, as well as those that are relatively straight forward to implement, makes the most sense.

In both cases, leveraging the buildings’ existing characteristics would be one example of an internal factor which is considered when developing the strategy. Furthermore, certain credits are more easily obtained in single-tenant vs. multi-tenant configurations, or with a high level of ongoing building management. These types of internal factors may not necessarily be a cost-based decision, though they should be qualitatively factored in when selecting the most optimal credit strategy.

On the other hand, an example of an external factor would be if the building owner desires certification because they believe it will add to the market appeal of their space. In this case, pursing certain credits over others may bring greater financial return on the endeavor, as some are more geared to user appeal than others.

It is important to select a consultant who is cognisant of these various factors and how they will affect the LEED strategy. Within our LEED Certification process, we take the necessary time upfront to understand the order of importance that the project goals follow, and subsequently develop the most applicable strategy that is unique to the project.

Cost Engineering

By cost engineering a LEED project, we help buildings achieve the highest level of performance possible, including the highest level of certification, for the least cost. Cost engineering is a strategy used to select the point in which spending one additional dollar on a good or service would not yield additional benefits, and spending one less dollar would result in loosing a benefit. Though not always completely cut and dry in the real world, cost engineering a LEED project results in the best overall value for the lowest overall cost.

In doing this, more capital is left available for additional green building components. The result is that a building will be able to utilize more green building characteristics, for the same overall cost had the project not be cost engineered. If additional green building characteristics are not desired, the effect will be a project that should cost less to the owner for the same quality of improvements or services utilized. Though we focus on cost engineering to reduce the cost of achieving LEED Certification, we understand that this may not be desired for every owner, which is why we remain flexible in this regard.

Cost engineering does not mean simply selecting the cheapest product or service for the building. For many products, a lower cost means less functionality of the component. For some buildings, a product with less functionality will still meet the project needs, while others may benefit greater from increased features. By understanding the building and project goals, we can help determine where the critical point is with respect to cost/benefits.

Process Management

Unravelling the multiple processes at play during any given moment within a LEED project is a bit like unravelling the complexity of how a large multi-location corporation may function at any one point in a normal business day. There are the multiple layers of inner workings within the corporation, ranging from accounting, human resources, upper/mid/lower management, employees, internal orders of operation and more, exterior needs/restrictions such as taxation & legal compliance, as well as what the business actually produces or sells on top of multiple people operating from different physical locations. A building undergoing LEED certification is very similar; there are multiple layers of inner operations within the building, ranging from HVAC, office supplies, waste, lighting, cleaning and many more, compliance to LEED, ASHRAE, Energy Star, and a plethora of other standards, the “product” which is essentially operating the building to meet the needs of the users, accessed by multiple people with several physical locations.

Managing all the working parts can be complicated and time consuming, result in a poor experience for the parties involved, or a poor outcome for the owner. Or, the process can be simple, timely, and straight forward, resulting in a good experience and outcome for the building and its occupants.

Recognizing the importance of process management within LEED certification, we utilize a simple, straight forward edifice to embody a complex inner framework. We start with the fundamentals of solid project management; experience, scheduling, task management, appropriate contractor management/communication, people management, and utilize an effective communications platform to tie all people and processes together. The result is that we seek to deliver the best LEED certification experience possible, creating a high performance building that is well understood and well received by the users.

Our online task management allows for a central communications hub where files, schedules, work orders, to-do lists, document collaboration and messaging can be found easily by all relevant people involved in the project. It can be either directly accessed, integrated into Outlook, or iPhones & iPads.

What We Need to Get Started

We will need to conduct a brief interview with the primary building operator and owner, perform a walk-through of the building, and have at least 12 months of utility bills. To learn more, or to schedule a no obligation fact finding consultation regarding a LEED Certification, contact us today.

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