LEED 2012 Behind the Scenes - follow up conversation

Reference Guide E-Books need to be editable or updated by USGBC

Chrissy –

Thanks for participating in this forum. This is an issue I would like USGBC to consider addressing for LEED 2012’s Reference Guides.

For those of us who have only purchased digital copies (E-books) of the Reference Guide, the addenda are a bit overwhelming since the PDF file for the E-books cannot be edited and the addenda are standalone documents that have to be searched when looking at a page in the Reference Guide.

Is there any plan to release updated E-books of the Reference Guides with Addenda included? Or can USGBC PLEASE consider allowing editing of the LEED 2012 version of Reference Guides so that those of us who have legitimately bought a copy can use Adobe Professional or Standard and insert the addenda items into the document? For heavy users of the Reference Guide, it is unacceptable to not be able to insert items into the PDF.

My request stems from my former ability to edit the PDF documents that made up the LEED v2 Reference Guides with errata. While I recognize the USGBC needs to protect its intellectual property rights and copyrighted material, those of us who legitimately purchase and utilize the digital version of the Reference Guide (v2009) are penalized because of folks who want to violate the copyright and distribute the documents. I cannot carry the paper copy of the Reference Guide when I travel. I rely on the digital version of the Reference Guide. And it needs to have the addenda inserted into it, which I would do if I could edit the document. The current April 2012 Addenda documents for first edition of BD&C is 51 PAGES of changes and encompasses hundreds of changes in the Guide. It poses an undue challenge to ensure I am providing teams with accurate information without having the ability to edit and insert/change the information.

If USGBC can’t allow editing of the Reference Guide E-books, then I would implore USGBC to provide digital purchasers with updated copies – which sounds like it would have to be a new edition because as I understand it the current E-books are not updated except when a new edition is published. This would be similar to what USGBC is doing when they update the Rating Systems with the addenda – except that purchasers of the E-Books would need to be notified.

I am asking USGBC to consider the needs of legitimate users of the E-books to provide accurate information to our teams. Thanks for listening.

Signatories

I find that owners I work with for the most part find adding their signatures cumbersome and a waste of their time (and they're always losing their sign-on information)...
Regarding LPE's, for the most part the exemption is quite small, so why have an LPE sign-off at all, when it would appear that at most you remove a table or two from documentation requirements, rather than the entire template which seemed to be how the LPE sign-off process was portrayed initially with LEED v3.

Linking data is fantastic! Love not having to worry about what team member is putting into individual credits! Do not love that dates (such as completion date) don't auto-fill throughout.

LPEs

Frankly, as an experience LEED AP but non licensed professional, I find the LPEs frustrating and a bit insulting. I'm in a much better position to understand if the project meets or does not meet the requirements of LEED than my registered co-workers and boss. Yet, if I can get them to do the documentation, they have a much shorter path than I do. Since I wind up doing all of the final credit verification and bat clean up on the documentation, it adds to my workload. I find it only helpful when dealing with recalcitrant consultants.