LEED for Homes - is it worthwhile?

For the last year we have been working on the first LEED certified residence in Los Gatos. LEED is a national rating system for energy efficient and environmentally sustainable building, developed and managed by the US Green Building Council. Besides offering the most stringent standards, the advantages of LEED over other green rating systems are the independent verification and certification of a building. While it's too early to say that LEED certified homes when put on the market will fetch a premium of x% over non-certified homes, it is plausible that buyers concerned about energy cost or use, indoor air quality and overall environmental impact will be willing to pay a premium.  How much of a premium will depend on energy prices and how what “quality of life” benefits a buyer may attribute to a LEED certified house vs. alternatives available in the market at the time.

What is involved in “going for LEED certification”? First, LEED currently only applies to new construction, not remodels. Secondly, since LEED certification is provided by an independent 3^rd party whose costs need to be covered, homeowners pay a fee of several thousand dollars, depending on several factors, such as the size of the house, location, the level of certification aspired and the experience of the builder. Lastly, making your home LEED compliant, will involve a bit more effort and cost during the design and building process as you will have to develop a LEED strategy (where am I going to get my points?), may have to do additional research into products that qualify for LEED eligibility, will have to make time for meeting with the independent rater, provide documentation on materials used etc. In addition you are likely to pay slightly more for many “green” building materials and interior finishes than for conventional products and applications.

The bottom line is that it is difficult to come up with a hard and fast individual economic return on investment for a LEED project at this time. However looking at the cost of buildings to society and considering the individual benefits of living in a home that has implemented healthy design practices (indoor air quality, natural daylight etc.) building to LEED standards will always pay off.