High Performance Buildings: Lessons Learned with LEED

1
High Performance Buildings Lessons Learned with
LEED
From a presentation originally given by Leith
Sharp, Director of the Harvard Green Campus
Initiative David Somervell 28 April 2006
2
The Underpinning Framework



3
Building Design Construction Process



4




Building Life Cycle Pre-Design




5



Building Life Cycle Design




6



Building Life Cycle Construction


7



Building Life Cycle Occupancy


8
HGCI Green Building Services
Pre-Design Client Consultation and Education
Pre-Design Determination of Green Building Goals
Pre-Design Design Team Selection
Pre-Design Charrette Facilitation
Pre-Design Recommendations orientation, envelope, mechanical, landscaping etc.
Pre-Design Establish team roles and responsibilities in relation to achieving goals
Design Life-Cycle Costing, Green Campus Loan Fund Consultation
Design LEED Strategy, Scorecard, Responsibilities and Schedule
Design Consultation, Review and Approval of Design-Phase LEED Submittals
Design Materials Database Development
Design Specification Development and Review
Design Submittal Review and Approval for Design-Phase Credits
Construction General Contractor Selection
Construction Erosion and Sedimentation, Construction IEQ , Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling, Materials Purchasing
Construction Submittal Review and Approval for Construction-Phase Credits
Occupancy Air Quality Testing, Submittal Review Approval for Occupancy-Phase
Occupancy Green Design Communications and Occupant Education
Occupancy Completion of Green Building Certification and Related Publicity
9
Harvard High Performance Buildings
Continuous Learning and Innovation
Harvard Real Estate Services 1 Western Ave
Harvard Real Estate Services 90 Mt Auburn
Harvard Real Estate Services 60 Oxford St
Harvard School of Public Health Landmark Center
2003-present
2002-2004
10
Harvard Real Estate Services One Western Avenue
LEED Silver
Graduate Housing 1st LEED Silver - 235,000
sqft student residence, for 350 post-graduates.
Using LEED rating system, green features include
 
11
Harvard High Performance Buildings
Continuous Learning and Innovation

• Key Lessons Learned
• Go for LEED before Pre-Design
• Ensure adequate client education
• Select architects engineers with
  experience in green design LEED
• Included HGCI or other 3rd party in design
  team to monitor and administer LEED
• Integrated design, bldg modeling and life
  cycle costing need work.
• Human health and productivity important
  factors to consider

Harvard Real Estate Services 1 Western Ave
Harvard Real Estate Services 90 Mt Auburn
Harvard Real Estate Services 60 Oxford St
Harvard School of Public Health Landmark Centre
2003-present
2002-2004
12
90 Mt. Auburn Street Redevelopment Project for
University Library Services office is pursuing
LEED Silver. Sustainability strategies include
Geothermal heat pumps with discharge water to
drinking fountains Storm water retention
storage tank Optimized energy performance use
by 15 ASHRAE standards Variable speed drives
on hot water and chilled water pumps Efficient
motors Energy star roof No permanent
irrigation system Bike storage Recycled
local materials Daylighting views throughout
Water use 30 below Std Extensive
commissioning Low VOC-emitting materials 30
fly ash in cement mixture No HCFCs
Construction IAQ Mgt Plan Recycling 90 CD
waste
13
Harvard High Performance Buildings
Continuous Learning and Innovation

• Key Lessons Learned
• Geothermal heat pumps included due to favorable
  pay-back period, aesthetic and design
  constraints.
• Construction and demolition waste recycling
  successful with waste mgt plan.
• Ongoing research required during project to
  identify material options, innovation credits.
• Confirmed importance of HGCI role in organizing
  and administering LEED design submission
  process.

Harvard Real Estate Services 1 Western Ave
Harvard Real Estate Services 90 Mt Auburn
Harvard Real Estate Services 60 Oxford St
2003-present
2002-2004
14
Harvard High Performance Buildings
Continuous Learning and Innovation

• LEED Legacy
• LEED Gold included in RFP
• Sustainability consultant hired to assist with
  aspects of LEED
• Geothermal heat pumps included
• Materials from previous projects
• Attention to integrated design
• Previous CD waste recycling vendor contracted
  for initial design

Going for Gold!
Harvard Law School and Faculty of Arts
Sciences Museum Complex under negotiation
Harvard Business School Hamilton Hall
University Operations Services Blackstone
2004-present
2005 Under negotiation
15
Harvard High Performance Buildings
Continuous Learning and Innovation

• Key Lessons Learned
• LEED experienced Architects engineers still
  learning
• A strong HGCI role monitoring and administering
  LEED projects is most cost and time effective.
• Masterspec identified as key tool for incorporate
  LEED into Design Devt Construction Docs
• Integrated design, building modeling and life
  cycle costing still not well developed
• Need for a Harvard specific LEED reference Guide.
  

Harvard Law School and Faculty of Arts
Sciences Museum Complex under negotiation
Harvard Business School Hamilton Hall
University Operations Services Blackstone
2004-present
2005 Under negotiation
16
Harvard High Performance Buildings
Continuous Learning and Innovation
Harvard Business School Hamilton Hall
University Operations Services Blackstone
2004-present
2005 Under negotiation
17
Harvard has 11 Certified LEED Building Projects
2002-2005
How to institutionalize full transferal of
lessons from one project to the next?
18
Specific Lessons learned at Harvard

• Integrate into construction docs
• Do adequate research ahead of time
• Design Development and Construction documents,

• Must get team to adopt integrated design
  approach
• Systems thinking
• Life cycle costing
• Health productivity

• Must include green building commitment at this
  stage
• Client commitment
• Integrated into all RFPs
• Budget for sustainability expert to administer
  and verify efforts

• Must involve operations staff in design process
  to ensure operability
• Align design with operations requirements
• Provide adequate info to operations staff
• Continuous commissioning approach

• Must have a thorough accountability structure to
  ensure all contractors and subcontractors build
  to spec
• Make all green building (LEED) submittals a
  requirement for payment.

19

Average Green Cost Premium vs. Level of Green
Certification 33 buildings US-wide

Source USGBC, Capital E Analysis
20
Cost of LEED Reduces as Experience Increases

• Of 20 LEED buildings in California, average price
  premium dropped from 3.3 in 1995, to 2 in
  2004.
• City of Portland completed three LEED Silver
  buildings in 1995, 1997 and 2000 incurring
  premium costs of 2, 1 and 0 respectively
• The City of Seattle has seen additional cost of
  LEED Silver buildings drop from 3-4 initially to
  only 1-2 in 2003.

For the full report The Costs Financial
Benefits of Green Buildings see http//www.cap-e.
com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F3259.pdf
21

• Resources
• www.csbr.umn.edu/B3/
• Minnesota Green Building guidelines process
  guide
• www.usgbc.org
• For LEED resources
• www.buildinggreen.com
• For wide range of resources
• www.buildinggreen.com/ecommerce/gs.cfm
• 5th edition of GreenSpec Directory includes
  information on more than 1,850 green building
  products carefully screened by the editors of
  Environmental Building News.