Marlon asks: What are the possible reasons that could cause a contractor (during the construction stage of a Green building) to prevent the client from gaining LEED Certification?

Answer:Marlon, while we always like to point out that LEED certification is a team effort, there are obviously certain aspects that rely on contractor participation and data collection. There are two strategies to preventing the potentially disastrous consequences of a LEED project being denied certification due to items not done correctly during the construction stage.

One would be to have a contractor who has either worked on a LEED project before and is familiar with the requirements and process from their end, or who is dedicated and willing to learn from other members of the project team. Another option would be to ensure that at least one member of the project team is well-experienced with LEED. Ideally this person would act as ‘LEED coordinator’ for the whole team. And, in an even better scenario, the entire project team would be so committed to the sustainable design process and working together towards the effort that failure simply isn’t an option.

All that being said, there are several credits that require direct contractor participation, which I’ll summarize below (this is based on LEED-NC).

EAp1 & EAc3, Fundamental Commissioning: The contractor needs to participate in commissioning meetings and arrange equipment start-up and system commissioning with the CxA in charge.

MRc4-7, Recycled Content, Regional Materials, Rapidly Renewable Materials and Certified Wood: Purchase items as required for each credit and provide content information and cost to fill out the credit template.

EQc3, Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan: Adhere to and create an indoor air quality plan and adhere to it during construction, provide photos documenting compliance. Also coordinate with design team if a building HVAC flush-out is required for credit compliance.

EQc4, Low-Emitting Materials: Provide cut sheets and VOC information for products to meet LEED requirements and allow the design team to complete credit documentation.

The ideas of ‘blame’ and ‘fault’ when it comes to LEED certification can be interesting topics in and of themselves due to the fact that the responsibility of certification falls on many team member’s shoulders and also that LEED certification (and even certification level achieved) are rarely written into contracts.

Sincerely,
Sarah Gudeman, LEED AP

Share