Should I Get LEED Certified?
Reasons For Getting LEED Certified
- It is your passion- If you are passionate about it, then go for it. It has been said that it is not a hard test to pass. The experience will undoubtedly bring you in contact with others passionate about sustainable construction practices.
- It Sells Itself -Municipal and city councils are in need of supporting more sustainable building practices. As an architect who is LEED certified you are at the leaders of the process.
- City Councils and Government Support - Washington State signed the first-in-nation "high performance green buildings" bill (SB 5509) which requires LEED silver certification on all major facility projects funded in the capital budget.Silver LEED Certification is already required in California for government buildings.
Reasons Against Getting LEED Certified
- LEED Project Certification - Procertification for LEED doesn't necessarily require an LEED-accredited professional's involvement. At the moment the number of LEED-accredited people is far higher than the number of projects for which LEED-certification is pursued.
- Experience is a better hiring reason than Certifications.What have you built? What models can you show?Passion is more effective than Certification. What do you already know and what are you doing that your feel is more effective than what could possible covered by LEED?
- LEED is at Saturation - Young professionals with LEED certification on their resumes are lining up for jobs at firms that have fully accredited staff. It has lost a little bit of it's accountability
- Green Architecture Required and Expected - Many residential and Commercial Projects outside of government have never heard of LEED, but know they want sustainable results and practices.
- Insurance Company Smack-down - Some insurance companies will raise firms' premiums for errors and omissions (liability) insurance based on the idea that having an LEED-accredited person on staff can create an expectation of a "higher level of care." So if the firm is not specifically pursuing LEED certification on any projects they may actually have a bias against hiring people with LEED accreditation (or any other superfluous credentials.)
Sustainable Communities
Phone: 561-459-3767
info@sustainablecommunities.com
http://www.sustainablecommunities.com
Posted: 09/07/2010
Our Sustainable Community Definition
Sustainable Communities are the result of the intelligent redesign of spaces, products and processes with the goal of eliminating environmental impact, improving quality of life, and generating favorable economic returns. SustainableCommunities.com tracks the progress of these communities and the leaders of the sustainability movement.
