Pa. is finally rolling out some energy efficiency programs. The most appealing program for new construction requires LEED gold certification. I am within weeks of blueprints on my own version of green building, (passive solar/high mass and wood stove.)  Any suggestions on how I can determine if certification requires tweaks or major overhaul?
    
     Passive solar is the wild card. Thanks to the glass area and R-8 AAC walls, my house rates in Rescheck as only 3 percent better than code. In practice, I don't expect to spend any money on hydrocarbons except for chain saw gas and a heat pump water heater operating north of 2.5 COP. But it looks like LEED wants a 14 percent improvement regardless. Another problem: Seat of pants control is pretty much a given with a wood stove, so measurement and control points are off the table.

     I am strong on everything else. The incentive is an outright grant of 10 percent of cost (or ~$20k in my case) or a loan up to $100k at 4 percent interest.  I am self-financing, so the grant is my choice. What does LEED certification cost? 

toddm,

Obtaining LEED certification is a challenge and achieving LEED Gold is a pretty healthy challenge in my opinion. If you really want to go for LEED Gold you really need to talk with a LEED AP, I would say an Architect. A LEED AP should be able to give you an idea of where you are in the LEED process. LEED is going to cost you $10,000 or more just for filing all the paperwork and getting a LEED AP involved. With all the documentation required by the builder it will probably cost you more there too. This is before you get to materials which will cost you a lot more. A LEED AP will be helpful not only for their knowledge, but also because using one should allow you to achieve a LEED point.

The long and short of depends on you. If you want to go LEED Gold because it is something you really want to do then go for it, but if you are looking to save money or receive a grant ($20,000), the liklihood of breaking even is remote at best.

Good luck either way.

renangle

Todd, I would highly recommend taking one of USGBC's one day classes. I learned a ton. They let you bring you plans in and during the class you "rate" your design. A potentially big bonus as an owner builder is these classes are geared towards tradesmen so if you take it locally you will get to meet HVAC, plumbers etc who are already interested in LEED and informed. That certainlly beets having to convince reluctant subs to do all that "treehugger" stuff. Renangle is right. Start yesterday. The first points you get are for design charette, sitting down with architect and contractors to tweek the design. The smaller the house, the easier it is. Go for it!

Capital idea, brawler. I am off to Princeton on June 29 for LEED 101. I have also reached out to some LEED APs in the Md/Pa area where I am building. I can't stray much from the renewable focus of my design. (Site prep alone yielded five cords of firewood and 900 bdft of oak millwork and flooring.) But if I can finesse that part, LEED gold would mean getting it done right.

OK, I'm not as knowledgeable of the LEED program as I should be. Are you saying that if a home is built to LEED specifications, it can then cost an additional $20,000 to get the LEED certification for this house? If that be the case, what are the incentives to get the certification?

I believe the average cost for the inspections and certification for LEED cost about 2000 bucs. It depends on what your provider charges. It would then be possible theoretically build LEED at no extra charge by going for the easy points, in design, use of durable materials, minimization of windows, dropping the dinning room for an extra bedroom etc.. i think most people building LEED will by their nature spend extra on HVAC and insulation and other improved items. Alot of the potential points cost nothing but require planning and compromise such as minimizing impervious surfaces, using only native plants for landscaping and not installing an irrigation system, using super low flow fixtures and recycling which can often save money. I started a little late, and could not find a local provider in NC [not required] My wall of windows may have shot the design anyway. michael

Wes,

This is my way of thinking. If toddm is looking to get a grant for 10% of the cost (~$20,000) for getting LEED Gold, then it will more than likily cost him more than that to achieve a LEED Gold rating. Getting LEED Gold requires that you achieve many of the points avialable under the rating system and that will cost more money. I believe it will cost about $10,000 to file all necessary paperwork with the USGBC and to hire a LEED AP to monitor that project and that is half his budget.

His statement that "Another problem: Seat of pants control is pretty much a given with a wood stove, so measurement and control points are off the table" makes getting LEED Gold very difficult, as you really don't want to have anything "off the table". If things are left off the table, then you will need to make them up somewhere else. He is putting in a wood stove (which I don't have a problem with) which could hurt his chances of achieving the indoor air quality point under LEED. His rescheck at 3% is going to need to be much better than that to get the Energy and Performance points available under LEED which will cost more money. What about water use reduction, is there a plan there, because if not it will cost additional dollars.

I'm just saying that in my opinion achieving LEED Gold (not just LEED) will probably cost more than the $20,000 that he can receive under the grant. I could always be wrong.

renangle

Toddm,

Not sure what part of PA you are in but I am working with Ed Howard at Aerie Ventures in West Chester. He is qualified to do LEED/GBI/Energy Star certifications. Best thing to do is sit down with him and go the thru the LEED checklist. I too am building a new LEED/GBI/Energy Star home in Malvern about 45 minutes west of Philadelphia. You may also want to check out www.e3bank.com. They are a brand new sustainable bank specializing in LEED homes and business. They recently received state approval and are now looking for investors. Should be operational in August. Let me know if you would like more information.

John

renangle, Just curious why you think it might cost that much for papaerwork. There are not that many times when a rater actually visits the site. It would be great to hear form someone whos been through the whole process.

Brawler,

It is my opinion that it will cost that much for the paperwork AND to hire a LEED AP. If going for just LEED certification, I would think that it would be less, but going for LEED Gold one will have to be much more dilligent on how things are done and it will more than likily require some sort of consultants. The application may cost around $2000, but to achieve LEED Gold, an additional $8000 could easily be hit for design adjustments, consultants, and if needed, enhanced commissioning (these are not building materials). Raters from the USGBC may not visit the site often, but additional dollars will need to be spent to ensure that all your i's are dotted and t's crossed. It is merely my opinion, but I have worked on a few LEED projects and paperwork for them are pretty extensive. toddm could do some of this himself to save money, but if mistakes are made in the process points could be lost and that can be very costly. Normally the costs between LEED levels (certification, silver, gold, and platinum) are significant, if they weren't everything would would be built to gold or platinum levels.

I could be proved wrong, but I honestly think if one is seriously trying to achieve that level of LEED the costs on the front end for paperwork/LEED AP/consultants can easily hit $10,000, especially for someone new to the LEED certification process.

Renangle, I guess the cost of LEED excluding the cost of certification $1500-2500 +_ for a smaller house is completely dependent on the design. If todd is building a passive solar/high mass structure i would bet those are not the only green practices he is using. If you intent is to build green regardless of LEED then going the extra mile to certify should be much less. Starting with a Sunset house plan would cost much more if it was even possible. LEED gold would have been achievable for the house i am building for almost no added expense with small tweeks to the design which would have cost nothing but would have required compromises on my part. Lets say todd goes for gold gets extreme and spends $25,000 extra, he is $5,000 out of pocket but has a Ferrai or should i say prius for a house that will be much easier to sell, heat and cool and be much more durable ie cheaper to maintain forever. That credit makes it a no-brainer.

Turns out USGBC isn't the problem; the state of PA is. Some LEED criteria are mandated for its high performance building loan/grants. Has to be on a seventh of an acre or less with sewer and water hookup available. The state is looking for infill development in other words, or green subdivision development. The state also wants a HERS 50 rating, or energy use at half or less of IECC 2006 standards. Can't be done with my approach. You look at my site and are there are two givens in LEED criteria: windows that capture the view and renewables. Fuel literally falls from the sky; I'd need a chain saw even if I weren't making firewood.

PA Sunshine solar rebates are underwhelming also. The state will pick up $2.25/watt of the roughly $8/watt cost of PV. The federal tax credit will reduce it to ~$4/watt. Solar only sorta works in cloudly PA, so a $16k 4kW system would be worth about $500/year at 10 cents/kwh according to NREL, or negative payback over the system's 25-year life. The rate caps in Pa's utility dereg expire next year and the price is sure to go up. But it would have to double for PV to make sense.

PA Sunshine rebates will pick up 25 percent of the cost of solar hot water up to $2k. With the feds' credit, it roughly cuts the cost in half.

Maybe. You can only use a contractor on the state's list of approved vendors, and the contractor handles the application rather than the owner. I am going to price it against a greymarket german system from Kotly in Poland. I am betting that rebates will be more expensive. Worse, to get the rebates for new construction, the house must be certified Energy Star. I am not sure what that entails, but there isn't a whole lot of money on the table with solar hot water.

Article about a LEED platinum house built for 100k, I think they have a blog w/ lots of good info as well.

http://www.housingzone.com/article/CA6662063.html?nid=4187&rid=10180192

slenzen,

That seems like a very interesting project. The place has a sales price of $250,000 and is 1150 sqft, which comes to about $218.00 a sqft. They 100k they are mentioning is for "hard construction costs". I tried to find the house on the LEED Registered Project Listing and couldn't find it, though that could very well be user error. The house is slated to be platinum, but from what I was able to come up with it is gold, hoping for platinum. I am just trying to clarify the 100k, as that can be slightly misleading to some. Still, an interesting project.

renangle,

The house is ~$100K, the difference is the property cost.  It's in the Philly area.

They have to be muttering in their beer. The 100k house would have been a shoo-in in Pa's high performance building program. (The 80k house?) Except that it won't cover land acquisition or construction costs retroactively. More to come they say. Gotta admire efforts to bring green to the masses. I hope they put the state programs to good use.