LEED Cost: Low or No Cost LEED-EB Credits?

Question:

Answer:

In April 2008, the Leonardo Academy conducted a survey among office building owners of the economics of LEED for Existing Buildings (aka LEED EB O&M). They found that the overall cost of LEED-EB implementation and certification for buildings with a significant component of office space ranged from $.02 cents to $5.01 per square foot of floor space. The average cost per square foot to achieve LEED EB O&M was $1.61.

The 14 LEED EB prerequisites and 85 LEED EB Credits were rated by those surveyed as being either "Low or No Cost Measures" or "Significant Cost Measures".

The results found that the majority of both LEED Prerequisites and LEED Credits were considered to be "Low or No Cost" among those surveyed.

The Leonardo report includes a ton of detail on all the LEED Prerequisites and LEED Credits... I have shortened the list of findings in the report here and limited the list of prerequisites and credits to only those that were considered to be "Low or No Cost" by 75% or more of the respondents. They are listed below by LEED EB category in descending order from 100% agreement (that the investment was "Low or No Cost") to 75% agreement among respondents:

Sustainable Sites
SS Prereq 1: Erosion and Sedimentation Control: 95.5%
SS Prereq 2: Age of Building: 95.5%
SS Credit 3.1: Alternative Transportation: Public Transportation Access: 90%
SS Credit 3.4: Alternative Transportation: Car Pooling & Telecommuting: 88.9%
SS Credit 3.2: Alternative Transportation: Bicycle Storage & Changing Rooms: 86.4%
SS Credit 2: High Development Density Building and Area: 84.2%
SS Credit 1: Plan for Green Site and Building Exterior Management: 78.3%

Water Efficiency
WE Prereq 2: Discharge Water Compliance: 100%
WE Prereq 1: Minimum Water Efficiency: 95.5%
WE Credit 3: Water Use Reduction: 81.8%

Energy and Atmosphere
EA Prereq 3: Ozone Protection: 90.9%
EA Credit 3.2: Building Operations and Maintenance: Building Systems Maintenance: 87%
EA Credit 3.1: Building Operations and Maintenance: Staff Education: 85%

Materials and Resources
MR Prereq 1.2: Source Reduction and Waste Management: Storage & Collection of Recyclables: 95.5%
MR Credit 5: Occupant Recycling: 94.7%
MR Prereq 1.1: Source Reduction and Waste Management: Stream Audit: 90.9%
MR Credit 1: Construction, Demolition and Renovation Waste Management: 86.4%
MR Credit 4: Sustainable Cleaning Products and Materials: 85.7%
MR Prereq 2: Toxix Materials Source Reduction: Reduced Mercury in Light Bulbs: 77.3%
MR Credit 3: Optimize Use of IAQ Compliant Products: 76.2%

Indoor Environmental Quality
IEQ Prereq 2: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control: 100%
IEQ Credit 10.1: Green Cleaning: Entryway Systems: 95.5%
IEQ Credit 10.3: Green Cleaning: Low Environmental Impact Cleaning Policy: 95.5%
IEQ Credit 10.4-5: Green Cleaning: Low Environmental Impact Pest Management Policy: 89.5%
IEQ Prereq 3: Asbestos Removal or Encapsulation: 86.4%
IEQ Prereq 4: PCB Removal: 86.4%
IEQ Credit 10.6: Green Cleaning: Low Environmental Impact Cleaning Equipment Policy: 86.4%
IEQ Credit 3: Construction IAQ Management Plan: 81.8%
IEQ Credit 6.1: Controllability of Systems: 78.9%
IEQ Credit 8.1: Daylighting and Views: Daylighting for 50% of Spaces: 78.9%
IEQ Credit 8.3: Daylighting and Views: Views for 80% of Spaces: 78.9%
IEQ Credit 7.1: Thermal Comfort: Compliance: 76.2%