Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most popular green

building certification programs used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building
Council (USGBC) it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and
maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods that aims to help building owners
and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.
Benefits and Disadvantages:
LEED certified buildings are intended to use resources more efficiently when compared to
conventional buildings simply built to code. However, analysis of energy and water use data from
New York City shows that LEED certification does not necessarily make a building more energy or
water efficient.
Often, when a LEED rating is pursued, the cost of initial design and construction rises. There may be
a lack of abundant availability of manufactured building components that meet LEED specifications.
Pursuing LEED certification for a project is an added cost in itself as well. This added cost comes in
the form of USGBC correspondence, LEED design-aide consultants, and the hiring of the
required Commissioning Authority (CxA)all of which would not necessarily be included in an
environmentally responsible project, unless it also sought a LEED rating.
However, these higher initial costs can be effectively mitigated by the savings incurred over time due
to the lower-than-industry-standard operational costs typical of a LEED certified building. This Life
cycle costing is a method for assessing the total cost of ownership, taking into account all costs of
acquiring, owning and operating, and the eventual disposal of a building. Additional economic
payback may come in the form of employee productivity gains incurred as a result of working in a
healthier environment. Studies suggest that an initial up-front investment of 2% extra yields over ten
times that initial investment over the life cycle of the building.
Further, the USGBC has stated support for the Architecture 2030, an effort that has set a goal of
using no fossil-fuel, greenhouse-gas-emitting energy to operate by 2030.
In the progression of sustainable design from simply meeting local buildings codes to USGBC
LEED (Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum) to the Architecture 2030 Challenge, the Living Building
Challenge is currently the most stringent sustainable design protocol. The LBC sets 20 imperatives
that compel building owners, designers, operators and tenants beyond current USGBC LEED rating
levels.
LEED is a design tool and not a performance measurement tool. It is also not yet climate-specific,
although the newest version hopes to address this weakness partially. Because of this, designers
may make materials or design choices that garner a LEED point, even though they may not be the
most site- or climate-appropriate choice available. On top of this, LEED is also not energy-specific.

Since it only measures the overall performances, builders are free to choose how to achieve points
under various categories. A USA TODAY review showed that 7,100 certified commercial building
projects targeted easy and cheap green points, such as creating healthy spaces and providing
educational displays in the building. Few builders would really adopt renewable energy because the
generators for those energy resources, such as solar photovoltaic, are costly. Builders game the
rating system and use certain performances to compensate for the others, making energy
conservation the weakest part in the overall evaluation.
LEED is a measurement tool for green building in the United States and it is developed and
continuously modified by workers in the green building industry, especially in the ten largest metro
areas in the U.S.; however, LEED certified buildings have been slower to penetrate small and midmajor markets. Also, some criticism suggests that the LEED rating system is not sensitive and does
not vary enough with regard to local environmental conditions. For instance, a building
in Maine would receive the same credit as a building in Arizona for water conservation, though the
principle is more important in the latter case. Another complaint is that its certification costs require
money that could be used to make the building in question even more sustainable. Many critics have
noted that compliance and certification costs have grown faster than staff support from the USGBC.
For existing buildings LEED has developed LEED-EB. Research has demonstrated that buildings
that can achieve LEED-EB equivalencies can generate a tremendous ROI. In a 2008 white paper by
the Leonardo Academy comparing LEED-EB buildings vs. data from BOMA's Experience Exchange
Report 2007 demonstrated LEED-EB certified buildings achieved superior operating cost savings in
63% of the buildings surveyed ranging from $4.94 to $15.59 per square foot of floor space, with an
average valuation of $6.68 and a median valuation of $6.07.
In addition the overall cost of LEED-EB implementation and certification ranged from $0.00 to $6.46
per square foot of floor space, with an average of $2.43 per square foot demonstrating that
implementation is not expensive, especially in comparison to cost savings. These costs should be
significantly reduced if automation and technology are integrated into the implementation.

International LEED Building examples:

The Tower at PNC Plaza is a skyscraper in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. It is the corporate
headquarters of the PNC Financial Services Group and has approximately 800,000 square feet
(74,000 m2), standing 33 stories (545 feet) tall. Nearby buildings totaling 37,000 square feet
(3,400 m2), were purchased by PNC and deconstructed to make space for the Tower at PNC
Plaza. The project was estimated to cost $400 million when announced in 2011 (or $421 million
today).

Construction began in spring of 2012 and was completed in

October 2015. The tower is one of the greenest high-rises ever
built, and even exceeds the current criteria for a LEED Platinum
certified building. The Tower features numerous sustainable
attributes such as an operable double-skin facade, an onsite grey
water reuse system, locally sourced building materials, fixtures
and furniture made from recycled materials, and numerous other
green strategies to substantially reduce the environmental impact
of the building. Some of these features enable the Tower's heating
and cooling systems to operate in a "net-zero-energy state" up to
30% of the year. This is accomplished by its innovative solar
chimney, which creates a stack effect through the core of the
building to ventilate excess heat without the need for mechanical
ventilation. The Tower's sloped roof acts as a solar collector and is positioned facing south.
The tower's "topping off" ceremony was held Tuesday, June 24, 2014 with William Demchak,
PNC chairman, president and CEO, and
Gary Saulson, director of corporate real
estate hosting it on site. The tower officially
opened on October 2, 2015

The David L. Lawrence Convention

Center (DLLCC) is a 1,500,000-square-foot
2

(140,000 m ) convention, conference and exhibition building in downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S.
commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is served by two exits on Interstate 579. The initial David L.
Lawrence Convention Center was completed on the site on February 7, 1981, but as part of a
renewal plan the new, completely redesigned center was opened in 2003 and funded in
conjunction with nearby Heinz Field and PNC Park. It sits on the southern shoreline of
the Allegheny River. It is the first LEED-certified convention center in North America and one of
the first in the world. It is owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny
County.

1225 Connecticut Avenue NW is an office building in the Dupont Circle neighborhood

of Washington, D.C. Built in 1968, with a $32 million renovation in 2009 by Brookfield
Properties and RTKL Associates, 1225 Connecticut Avenue is the "second redeveloped

building in the United States and the first within the major business districts of the East
Coast to achieve LEED Platinum status." Tenants include Citibank and the World Bank.

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a

public garden set in Schenley
Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a
City of Pittsburgh historic landmark and is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places.
The gardens were founded in 1893 by steel and realestate magnateHenry Phipps as a gift to the City of Pittsburgh. Its purpose is to educate and
entertain the people of Pittsburgh with formal gardens (Roman, English, etc.) and various species of
exotic plants (palm trees, succulents, bonsai, orchids, etc.). Currently, the facilities house elaborate
gardens within the fourteen room conservatory itself and on the adjoining grounds. In addition to its
primary flora exhibits, the sophisticated glass and metalwork of the Lord & Burnhamconservatory
offers an interesting example of Victorian greenhouse architecture.
Phipps is one of the "greenest" facilities in the world. The entrance pavilion of the Phipps
Conservatory has silver-level LEED certification. Its greenhouse production facility has received
Platinum certification, the first and only greenhouse to be so certified. [7] Moreover, the Center for
Sustainable Landscapes, designed to be as environmentally sustainable as possible, is also LEED
Platinum certified, and produces all of its own energy.

The University of Texas at Dallas is a

public research university in the University of Texas
System. The main campus is in the
Richardson, Texas, Telecom Corridor, 18 miles
(29 km) north of downtown Dallas. The institution,
established in 1961 as the Graduate Research
Center of the Southwest and later renamed the
Southwest Center for Advanced Studies (SCAS), began
as a research arm of Texas Instruments. In 1969, the
founders bequeathed SCAS to the state of Texas
officially creating The University of Texas at Dallas.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies the university as a doctorate granting & a "Highest Research
Activity" institution in the United States. Research projects include the areas of Space Science,
Bioengineering, Cybersecurity, Nanotechnology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences. The University of
Texas at Dallas offers more than 138 academic programs across its eight schools and hosts more
than 50 research centers and institutes. With a number of interdisciplinary degree programs, its
curriculum is designed to allow study that crosses traditional disciplinary lines and to enable students
to participate in collaborative research labs.
The school has a Division III athletics program in the American Southwest Conference and fields 13
intercollegiate teams. The university recruits worldwide for its chess team and has a nationally
recognized debate team. For spring 2015 commencement, the university granted 1,779 bachelor's
degrees, 1,685 master's degrees and 89 PhDs for a
total of 3,553 degrees.

Local LEED Building examples:

The Rideau Residence did not set out to be the
First Residential Certified Passive House in Canada
back in 2010 (a year after the Austria Haus in
Whistler). The intention was simply to design and build the best house for the site using as
much local material and mechanical equipment as
possible. It wasnt until the impressive 0.57 ACH air test
that the idea of Passive House certification for this LEED
Platinum home came to the fore. The result, as they say,
is history.
Casa Tortuga takes its name from a turtle that fell on the
site that Marilynn and Arlene chose for their Certified
Passive House retirement home.
Nestled in the trees overlooking the water near Black
Rapids, the site is challenged with the balance VERT of natural beauty and energy savings
through resilient design. The result of the solar pathfinder photo lead to the felling of some
evergreen trees to the south. Despite this effort the house is still heavily shaded, which tipped
the scales to the insulation side.
A connection between indoors and outdoors
produced the 6 deep wrap around porch that,
in cahoots with the trees, dramatically reduces
the cooling demand of this home. The intended
addition of PV will likely see this project get
very close to Net-Zero Energy.

The Dufferin Residence will be a Certified Passive House addition and EnerPHit retrofit to a
heritage listed building, compounding the challenges for this project. Keeping with the look of
the neighbourhood, approval from the city finally allowed the project to break ground at the end
of 2014. Pushing the envelope further, 21 R-67 ICF walls were chosen, with the hope of
comparing construction costs of similar R-value
wood construction walls. The penthouse/rooftop
access will be composed of prefabricated, preinsulated panels.

Blackman Residence: Passive House /

Rammed Earth
Located just outside of Huntsville, Ontario this will
be the first Certified Passive House Rammed Earth project. James Blackman is the
owner/builder of this inspirational building who is the co-founder of Tapial Homes, specializing in
high performing Rammed Earth construction. This project is pushing the boundaries of natural,
foam-free construction. The walls, roof and slab will be insulated with Roxul, and Foamglass will
provide the thermal break below the interior Rammed Earth wall.
Reference:
https://homesolbuildingsolutions.com/sample-projects/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_in_Energy_and_Environmental_Design

LEED INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL

BUILDINGS

SUBMITTED BY:
MARY LYN CASANOVA

SUBMITTED TO:
Arch. ARJAY TY