How much does LEED certification cost? Earning a LEED certification for a project involves several different types of costs, and you have to consider each separately to get an accurate picture.
Let’s envision the cost of LEED as an inverted pyramid with five levels from bottom to top. The bottom level is both the smallest (in size and cost) and the top level is potentially the biggest, but also a place where you have a lot of leeway. We’ll start at the bottom.
1. The fees
The most direct cost is also the smallest: the fees you pay to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) to register and then to certify your project. These are roughly 3¢–5¢ per square foot for New Construction, depending on the size of the project and whether or not you get the USGBC member discount.
2. Cost of documentation time and effort
Next up the cost pyramid is the time and effort that someone has to put into compiling and submitting the LEED documentation and generally managing the compliance process.
This cost could be for an outside consultant hired just for that task, someone on the staff of the design firm, the contractor, or the owner. This is a big project for someone doing it for the first time, and not such a big deal for someone who has done it enough to have figured out the process and created or purchased effective tracking systems.
It helps if the team is experienced and each person doesn’t need too much coaching to provide her pieces of the documentation. It also depends how many credits you’re going after, and, to some extent, which ones. A few hundred hours to pull everything together for a big complicated project is not out of the ordinary; simple and small projects should take less time and effort.
3. Cost of extra research and design
At the third level, your baseline starts to become very relevant.
If your baseline is the cost to have a design team create a variant on their last few non-LEED projects, then designing to meet LEED standards will take some extra effort. But these added costs shouldn’t be attributed just to LEED—they are the costs of getting a better building.
To realize any high-performing building the team has to develop a range of scenarios, run simulations to determine how they will perform and prepare cost estimates to price them out. They also have to investigate alternative products and materials and explore the feasibility of new technologies. All these steps take time and effort—how much depends a lot on how experienced the team is and how aggressive the performance goals are for the project.
4. The cost of commissioning and modeling for compliance
LEED introduces a few requirements that add costs if they are not already part of the scope of the project. The most obvious of these is commissioning. At $0.50–$1.00 per square foot (or more for a complex building), commissioning may seem like a big investment, but it’s cheap compared to the cost of call-backs, fixes, and inefficiencies that are likely if you don’t do it. For this reason, many large owners, including the federal General Services Administration, require commissioning for all of their projects, so for them it is not an added cost.
Energy modeling is trickier. While energy modeling should be used to inform the design process for every building, they are most useful during early design phases. The models that have to be run for LEED documentation, on the other hand, are an added step, done late in the design process and often with different parameters. These models, or models like them, are also required by code in some places. If the models aren’t code-required then the LEED-specific model does represent an added cost that starts at $5,000–$10,000 and goes up, depending on the complexity of the project. For small projects it is possible to earn a few LEED energy points using the prescriptive path without doing such a model.
Construction cost premiums for LEED credits such as WEp1 Water Use Reduction are highly dependent on the savings being attempted and which strategies are chosen to get there. This table from the Cost of LEED report lays out the options.Another LEED-specific action—tied to an optional credit, EAc5 in LEED-NC—is to create a measurement and verification (M&V) plan and install monitoring devices needed to track performance. If you wouldn’t be doing this, then the monitoring equipment and writing and implementing the M&V plan require cost premiums, which are explored in the "The Cost of LEED" report. Like commissioning and energy modeling, M&V brings benefits—it’s the only way to know if your high-performance building is really performing as designed.
5. Costs of construction
Finally, we get to the top of our inverted pyramid, and what might be the biggest part of the cost picture: the hard costs of construction.
If the design team is experienced and the goals aren’t too aggressive, there may be no overall added cost because every cost premium has been offset with savings somewhere else. (For example, a smaller HVAC system resulting from a more efficient envelope.) We know this is possible because lots of projects achieve LEED certification on budgets that were set before LEED was introduced as a requirement. However, various studies have targeted a typical premium for LEED projects at 2%–15%, with the high end including a lot of on-site renewable energy generation for LEED-NC EAc2.
Managing costs of construction
To manage those costs you have to know, at least roughly, the price of a range of specific measures. It helps to know the following for example:
- Demand-controlled ventilation adds about $1/cfm to the cost of a standard ventilation system
- Bike racks will cost about $5 per full-time equivalentFull-time equivalent (FTE) represents a regular building occupant who spends 40 hours per week in the project building. Part-time or overtime occupants have FTE values based on their hours per week divided by 40. Multiple shifts are included or excluded depending on the intent and requirements of the credit. (FTE)
- Showers and changing rooms will cost about $400 per FTE.
These figures, and many more, come from “The Cost of LEED”—a new report from BuildingGreen.
The Cost of LEED report
Going credit-by-credit through LEED for New Construction v2009 (LEED-NC), “The Cost of LEED” itemizes all the common approaches to achieving the performance that the credit requires and offers the view of an experienced cost estimator on the cost implications of adopting those technologies or design solutions.
“The Cost of LEED” can’t tell you what it might cost to locate your project near mass-transit for SSc4.1: Alternative Transportation—that’s too location and project specific for even a rough guess. But it can suggest a figure to put into your budget for any one of hundreds of specific technologies, and it identifies the other credits that might also benefit from that measure (so you can consider the appropriate synergistic benefits).
“The Cost of LEED” is available for purchase as a PDF through the LEEDuser website for $49.
Buy "The Cost of LEED" report ($49 for PDF download) from LEEDuser, packed with cost details relevant to all projects.
30 Comments
Costs of LEED Webinar - Still Available?
I can't seem to download this webinar? Is it like the document but in a web version or a quick overview?
Thanks,
Michelle
Michelle, you can click on the caption of the image above to get to the video, or click on the Checklists tab.
Project Registration Fee - Non-member or USGBC Member
I am looking for a clarification on who qualifies for the USGBC Member Fee for a registered project - does the project owner need to be a USGBC member or is it the LEED Administrator who registers the project? I have not been able to find specific documentation that defines who needs to be the the USGBC member to qualify for the USGBC Member registration fee.
In my experience the project administrator, the person or company who registers the project, needs to be a member of USGBC in order to recieve the discount.
Thank you Emily - that is what I had thought, just wanted to confirm it as I am updating projected LEED costs for an upcoming LEED project.
Our office has taken over a project that was originally registered by another firm that was not a USGBC member. If we are members (which we are) can we get the USGBC member pricing for the design and construciton reviews? Or did the project need to be registered initially with a membership?
Do you know how to associate a project with our current membership? Or will GBCI automatically know that we should get the reduced rates when submitting since our account is associated with our membership?
Thanks for any guidance you can provide!
Breana, I would assume you could get the member discount for the review. I would contact GBCI for help with this. I am not sure they would automatically konw. Or perhaps when you go to pay it will become apparent one way or the other.
Appeal Fees Up
Just a note that appeal fees are up to $800 for some EA and EQ credits (primarily EAp1, EAp2, EAc1, EQp1 and EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. EAc2). See updates for more details:
http://www.gbci.org/org-nav/announcements/11-09-16/Energy_Credit_Appeal_...
LEED Campus Certification with complex buildings conditions
Hi Everyone!....just joining the LEED forum family.
I am evaluating a case for LEED Campus Cert. in order to prepare a service proposal, but complex conditions are encountered in the site. I just read the MPR and the 2010 AGMBC, and while reading previous comments on this website related to the subject, some things are clear, but some are more confusing.
Questions:
1- Whether the pre-approved Master Site credits are to be applied to each individual LEED project certification, when applicable to one or more projects, or these credits are consumed when applied to the first LEED project certification?
2- A very particular condition in the site is as follow: Building A (BA) is a 7 story existing tower (only 1st and 3rd floor are owned ), Building C (BC) is a 4 story existing building in operation. As an in-fill building, a third will be inserted occupying the opened space separating BA and BC, named Building B (BB), a three story new construction building, intended for leed certification. BB is attached to both BA and BC, and will be connected to both in the 1st and 3rd floor with BA and connected through 1st floor with BC. How should LEED certification process be approached in this case where a new building connects to and facilities are shared with adjacent buildings?
At this moment i have considered to use LEED-BD&C. Please correct me if i am wrong. I will greatly appreciate any opinion or suggestion to solve this uncertain case.
AM
The master credits are not "consumed" -- they can be applied to multiple projects.
For your question on the attached buildings, have you checked out the Minimum Program Requirements supplemental guidance? There are some great tips in there. Let us know if you have more specific questions relative to that guidance.
2004 GSA Report on Cost of LEED
The General Services Administration (GSA) also has a very helpful study they published in 2004 on the cost of LEED in GSA projects. It's a bit dated but is also helpful in getting a rough idea on LEED costs. It can be dowloaded here: http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/browse_doc.php?d=90
Our customer asking us to provide ROI for the LEED. Does any one have an Idea where to get compiled set of Savings for each of the credits. For example the client spent a lot of money to pave the entire site with intelocking blocks. How to calculate savings for this. Is there any publication avaialbel out ther for LEED ROI similar to COST OF LEED.
Cost of LEED report - Internationl projects
Hi,
Does the report also covers cost issues for undertaking LEED certifications outside the US? Such as in the Middle-East?
Thanks.
Good question, George! The report focuses on construction costs for the high-performance measures that would be used to achieve each credit, based on the specific experiences of a team of designers and cost estimators in the Northeastern United States. The particular cost premiums that it provides would probably not be directly applicable to projects outside the U.S., but the list of suggested measures and the methodology for getting at the cost implications of each credit would likely still be quite useful.
So, if you have access to your own cost information for some of these measures that you can integrate into the information in this report, I think it would be quite useful. If you don't, it might still be interesting, but less valuable.
This report should NOT be called the cost of LEED. It is clearly NC. When dealing with an existing building the costs and benefits are totally based on the facility that you're working in. When are we going to stop generalizing?
Finally! I'm really pleased with the presentation and report. Thank you for sharing your research and providing this useful tool, which will greatly enhance decision making for Owners and Project Teams. I am very happy to see both hard cost data and soft cost estimates discussed openly. Now we just need this information for EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. and LEED-H.
Michael, I'm glad you like the report. We worked hard on it and we're glad it's going to be useful to you.
Richard, a number of people have asked if this report is relevant to LEED-EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems., and my answer has been that while there may be some pieces that are relevant, it's not addressed directly. As you point out there are a lot of unique challenges with EBOM buildings.
We tried to make that clear in the title of the report, "The Cost of LEED: A Credit-by-Credit Look at the Cost of LEED-NC v2009."
This looks like a good report - like many earlier "cost of LEED" studies, it will be incumbent on us in the practice community to use the information well - e.g apply it and scale it as appropriate to our own projects. The lengthy list of assumptions at the beginning of the report (p. 3) are really important to the accurate use of the data. I look forward to delving into it!
Thanks, BuildingGreen team for developing this.
This report looks very interesting.indeed it's a report focus on leed NC projects,i hope more accurate information can be shared for the previous leed projects,inclusive of acutal operation performance.BTW,do you have some figures about leed proects in China or asia?thanks l lot!;)
If other LEED users have cost information on their projects--what, if any, premiums they've paid to accomplish the performance required to earn certain credits, perhaps they'll post those here.
We hope to add information soon about how projects are achieving LEED certification in China--though it may take a bit longer before we can offer any cost information. Do you have any experiences to share?
George, if you have any questions concerning LEED costs and compliancy in the Middle East, please visit our website at http://www.leedintl.net. Fillout our "contact us" webpage and a representative will contact and assist you with any questions or information. Leed International has offices in Riyad, KSA.
Thank you for the work in putting this report together! Just a small note for something that seems beneficial to see in an addendum--particularly for discussion with building owners--is the return on investment for each credit (daylight building vs. non-daylight), in terms of the cost savings in utility bills, etc. over a certain time period. While I realize there are many variables in this, it would be helpful to have a range to reference within the report.
Can you post a copy of the report deleting the actual cost numbers, so that we can see how it is structured and what is covered?
Michael, I'm afraid not—the way the report is structured, showing options on how to earn the credits, is part of the content. We couldn't just strip out the cost data. Also it would be a lot of work!
If you buy the report and it doesn't meet your needs we'll give you a refund.
Michael, one other thing I forgot to mention—a sample page from the report is shown above. That should give you a sense of how it's structured and what kind of information you'll find.
Is there any way for us to enlarge the sample page above? With the report, are the costs fixed or is it a formula where we can enter costs and based on our particular project we will get an idea of what the LEED portion of the project will costs?
Sherry Bonelli, LEED Green Associate
http://www.SucceedAtLEED.com
Sherry, an enlarged image is not available, sorry. Of course, it is included inthe report, and we offer a full money-back guarantee if you purchase it and aren't satisfied.
The report shows the cost information in two ways—one, as a hard cost, and two, as a cost premium over conventinoal practice. In relevant credits, such as WEc3, various methods of earning the credit are shown, with respective costs. All the info is broken down by credit.
My company Leed International, LLC is entering our fourth year of operating in the Middle East and we have learned that the "Cost of LEED" in the Middle East closely mirrors that of the costs in the United States. Several areas of LEED really do not apply or are not applicable to the Middle East, due to the low cost of energy within the Gulf Regions countries. LI has had extensive experience and our data base of information depicts and reflects, that the costs are in some areas higher, due to the LEED point requirements and in some areas of LEED the costs are lower, but for most of the LEED point reuirememts, we have been able to reflect a the majority of LEED point costs are similar to that in the United States. If anyone desire to learn more about LEED compliancy and certification costs, experiences, etc., in the Middle East, please visit our website at http://www.leedintl.net and go to our "contact us" webpage, fill out our information form and submit it to our company. Leed International will discuss information and experiences on projects in the Middle East.
Sherry,
Go to your browser and zoom in. Or just buy the report, for general purposes it's a nice guide.
The true value of this document is that it allows you to show your client ( and the Professional Team ) an independant take on the costs of a LEED project ?
Especially for projects outside continental USA. Many QSs and Architects have no idea of what the costs should be and it helps instill confidence in the LEED process.
In some ways it aslo helps keep the construction material suppliers honest. I pull out the report and show them where they are overpricing ;-) This leads to some interesting conversations !
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