Contractor performing LEED submittals?

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Author Message Sharon Lund Senior Member Username: sharon_l Post Number: 17 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 03:32 pm:    Have any of you been involved in a LEED project where the contractor did all the submittals to USGBC? This project is in the south (we are north)and we are only involved in the design process, owner doing own CM - but doesn't know the LEED submittal process. If we require the contractor to employ a LEED AP (or hire a consultant), is there any reason not to go this route? Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 255 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2007 - 08:50 pm:    If the owner agrees to prequalify the contractor based upon successful completion of previous LEED projects, and requiring same project management staff, then this approach may work. Otherwise, it's a long shot. I would look carefully at your design services agreement to make sure your firm isn't in the line of fire if the project fails to achieve its LEED goal. Chris Grimm, CSI, CCS, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 76 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 - 08:38 am:    One way to reinforce the LEED submittal requirements is to tie them to the application for payment, so someone can be assured a chance to review the reporting forms, receipts/number of copies, and keep an eye on % & cost of recycled content and % & cost of diverted construction waste management on a frequent basis. You REALLY don't want to find out at the end of the project that this documentation has not been kept or managed, because it is difficult or impossible to recreate it later. Also it is the only way to gain assurance and monitor whether the targeted & / cost ratio of these items is being met as the job is constructed, especially on bid projects where you don't know during design what specific products would be chosen during construction. But if you do not have CA on the project then I don't know if you would have the opportunity to review payaps or enforce the requirement. Philipp (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 12:30 am:    I am currently studying to be a LEED AP, a question in the PPI2pass Schumacher, Peot practice exam asks something along the lines of 'who is responsible for assigning people to submit templates' (paraphrase). What I gather is someone assigns a Project Admin. Then the Project Admin gives out responsiblities to whoever he/she sees fit. I hope this is of some (belated)help. I'm still trying to figure ut out, as it is something that is questioned on the actual exam. (I think) Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 781 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 09:58 am:    While having a LEED AP on the project is only worth a single point, it seems to me that it's worth a whole lot more in management. That person would assume the responsibility for review of the LEED process, points attainable, review of submittals as well actual submittals; in short the whole kit and kaboodle of LEED certification. And do tie the submittals to the pay aps. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 789 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 01:40 pm:    its a bigger issue than "having a LEED AP" on the project, since not all LEED APs can manage the paperwork or can devote the time to it. Managing the submittals/paperwork for a LEED project can be VERY time consuming and someone has to end up getting paid to do that. for the contractor, it may 50-75% of a FTE for the project; for the Architect, not only would be a time cost, but also an increased liability that they may not being paid to take on. By processing the submittals, the architect is certifying that the project will meet the LEED performance on the project -- and your liability insurance will not cover you if the required LEED rating isn't met. I know a few LEED APs who can manage that portion of the project, but not all of them can and I think you want to prequalify the LEED consultant in the same way that you would prequalify the contractor. J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 275 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 03:58 pm:    I am LEED AP and I certainly would not want to do the paperwork involved. I would suggest that only a portion of the LEED stuff required by USGBC is appropriate for a contractor to submit on. The MEP should be doing some of it; the Owner will have to do some (e.g., "green" power contract); and the Cx will have to do some. The advantage to having a knowledgeable LEED consultant (in-house or outside) is that they can coordinate the documentation and make sure that every thing gets submitted. I can imagine that there might be an issue where the contractor assumes that a design consultant will be doing something while the design consultant assumes that the contractor is taking care of it. Russ Hinkle, AIA, CCS Senior Member Username: rhinkle Post Number: 49 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 04:20 pm:    I have been involved with 8 certified projects of various levels. There is always a Project Administrator. This person manages the team, reviews the credits, and communicates / coordianates communication with the USGBC. This person also typically assigns responsiblity for certain credits to themselves. No one person can or should do all the paperwork. I am sure that would send up a red flag at review time. Very few if any people have all the skill sets required. The A/E typically is responsible for about 2/3 of the points and is involved early in the design / programming of a project. Therefore it is a natural to be the PA for the project. I also believe it is an opportunity to get responsiblity and fee's in areas where we can be leaders. Typically the PA is the person who registers the project at the beginning, although it can be changed by contacting the USGBC. When there is a project delivery method other than the traditional (Design build, CM) there is opportunity for others to be the PA for the project. As long as the fee structure and contracts reflects this, so be it. One of the key roles for the PA should be to review the submission from each of their team members to make sure it meets the requirements. Just like any other project a good Quality Assurance review can save a lot of grief. Russ Hinkle, AIA, CCS Senior Member Username: rhinkle Post Number: 50 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 04:27 pm:    LEED AP's are a dime a dozen. Many firms encourage it, but actually getting the opportunity to practice it is another story. It is akin to when you first have your degree and are working toward registration. You learn an a lot as an intern. Real experience counts when working on LEED documentation. Joel McKellar, LEED AP Senior Member Username: joelmckellar Post Number: 28 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 - 02:08 pm:    I strongly second Russ' last comment! LEED AP does not automatically qualify one to manage the process. In my experience the paperwork is roughly divided in thirds between architect, MEP engineers, and the contractor - with civil, CxA, and perhaps a landscape architect each getting a point or two to do as well. In many cases the architect CAN take on more of the documentation, but then they are essentially verifying that other people's work is complete... I prefer to have any consultants/contractors do the paperwork mostly because it forces those people to verify that their work is correct... if it's not then it's (a little more) clear that they did it wrong. J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 288 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Friday, September 05, 2008 - 12:01 pm:    I would suggest that with USGBC moving to electronic submittal of LEED documentation, documentation no longer needs to be saved in a hard copy form for "batch processing" at the end of the project. The paper work may be able to be processed by the Contractor "on the fly" as specific products are approved through the submittal process. The Architect may want to see an "informational submittal", and certainly there should be regular reporting by the Contractor to the Architect (or the Owner) on percentages of regional materials and recycled materials. I like the idea of having this "summary" documentation being a part of the package, but it could be distributed as a regular report at monthly progress meetings. Anne's point about the time commitment on the part of the Contractor's staff (probably between $75 and $100K depending on benefits and location). I am not sure this is a significant cost on larger projects; however, the level of effort does not necessarily scale with the magnitude of the project. Very large projects may not require more than this level of resource, small projects will not require very much less.