Excellent Construction Specifications Lead to Successful LEED Projects
Specifications can't ensure LEED certification will be achieved, but clear, concise specifications that contain the information contractors need to meet LEED requirements make it more likely the building will achieve the desired LEED certification and help to reduce costs, changes, and disputes.
If a single contractor is responsible for design and construction, the design specifications could simply state the LEED rating that must be achieved. If the specifications are written this way, it becomes the contractor's job to figure out how to achieve the LEED rating. However, if some LEED strategies are more important than others, such as energy efficiency or long-term cost effectiveness, those requirements should be emphasized.
If separate design and construction firms work on the project, it's important to specify materials and explain requirements carefully. Construction will generally be more expensive if specifications are vague or if contractors have to figure out what materials and configurations will meet LEED requirements. The construction specifications should clearly explain requirements for
- The LEED certification level that the finished building must achieve
- LEED documentation,
including assigning responsibility for completing LEED-Online credit templates
and supporting documents, and for identifying the supporting documents that
are acceptable—include checklists or templates where appropriate
- Establishing
and implementing plans and procedures for indoor air quality, diverting construction
debris from landfills, erosion and sedimentation control, and so on
- Identifying
makes and models of equipment, materials, fixtures, and products that will
meet LEED requirements such as recycled content or regional materials
- The standards that "or equal" products must meet to be considered the equivalent of the specified makes and models
What Contracting Officers Need To Know
Don't include any work to achieve the required LEED certification in "add items"—doing so runs the risk of unduly high costs or not achieving LEED certification.
Do include a provision for liquidated damages on projects that are required to achieve LEED Silver if the required LEED certification isn't achieved due to actions of the contractor. The basis for the liquidated damages is that if the building doesn't achieve certification, the Forest Service will either have to pay for additional work to achieve certification, or accept a building that is worth less than specified and one that might have higher operating and maintenance costs.
Forest Service employees who have worked on LEED projects recommend including LEED-related information specific to each type of work within that specification section. Excellent Construction Specifications Lead to Successful LEED Projects Keeping all requirements for the same type of work together ensures that subcontractors will see the LEED requirements alongside all the other requirements for their work.
It's always tough to write specifications that differ from those that are customary. Fortunately, example LEED construction specifications are available on the Web. Specifications for three successful Forest Service LEED projects are available to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management employees on the Forest Service's internal computer network at http://fsweb.wo.fs.fed.us/eng/programs/facilities/leedspec/. Specifications are available in the "Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers" at http://www.wbdg.org/design/greenspec.php. Specifications for energy and resource efficiency from the California Energy Commission are at http://www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2004-05-24_500-04-015.PDF. Sustainable design guideline specifications for four Division I sections (organized in the MasterFormat structure) are available from BuildingGreen, LLC, a building industry information resource group, in their "GreenSpec" directory at http://www.buildinggreen.com/guidespecs/.
