Two New LEED-AP's on DTA's Staff - How Can This Benefit You?

Written By: Stephen McKay Jr. Associate A.I.A., LEED-AP, CNU, Certified Green Professional

Dominick Tringali Architects recently added two LEED-AP's to their staff. Mark Garagiola and myself have passed the LEED-AP exam and are now qualified to provide consultation for your project to achieve LEED certification.

A little bit about the LEED-AP exam first...(Check out http://www.gbci.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=28 for more info on what a LEED AP is). LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (http://www.usgbc.org/). Our study and testing process was very rigorus. The exam prepares you to design and construct a project taking into consideration Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Environmental Air Quality. The point based scoring system takes into consideration your compliance with these factors and rates your proposed building against set point values to determine your score (Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum). Mark and I are now accredited to assist developers, building owners, investors, etc. design their project to these standards, and assist in the certification process.

So what exactly does this mean to you? Here are a few facts and figures first to provide you with some info on where the "green market" is going...

-Consumers estimated spending double on green products and services during 2008, totaling estimated $200 - 500 Billion.

- 70 percent of consumers said they were more or ‘much more inclined’ to invest in a green home over a conventional home in a down market.

- 63 percent of green homeowners were motivated by lower operating and maintenance costs that come with energy and resource efficient homes.

-In addition to lower maintenance costs, environmental concerns and their ‘family’s health’ were significant factors for going green.

-I recently found a diagram describing a cast study of building cost lifecycles. For the same building type, for an office building that cost $10.0mil and was built to code, it would have nearly $350.0mil in operating costs over its life.

For a building built to LEED Platinum standards the design/construction cost would be $12.1mil, but have $62.2mil in operating costs over its life. That is nearly a $285.0mil in savings, not to mention the marketing potential of this building!

Therefore, as our society places more value on green products and living environments, the demand for LEED Certified buildings increases. Across the country, LEED Certified offices, medical buildings, daycare centers, etc. return greater rates than non certified buildings as occupants place a premium on healthy buildings. In addition, we have seen a dramatic increase in new client interviews asking for green, healthy homes. This has just been reinforced by the recent stimulus package passed by The President has also placed greater incentives on sustainable buildings and technologies.

DTA currently has two projects seeking LEED Platinum Certification. We recently completed a 1768s.f. 5 bedroom home for Habitat for Humanity which will be constructed for less than $100k. In addition, we are completing a project seeking LEED Platinum Certification in Birmingham which will be the 2009 Somerset Showhome.

We will be conducting additional tours and educational presentations throughout the coming months. Please contact JamieQ@DTArchitects.com for more information.

Dominick Tringali Architects is a residential, custom and community architectural firm specializing in the methodology lifestyle by design. To learn more, please visit www.dtarchitects.com or http://dtarchitects.blogspot.com.