Can You Guarantee LEED Certification?
Do you remember Energy Ace? You may recall a series of posts I wrote about the company and it's LEED guarantee. Today we are checking in with Energy Ace founder Wayne Robertson to get the low down on the LEED guarantee.
Chris: Please tell me about your "Green Guaranteed" program.
Wayne: Energy Ace created its “Green GuaranteedTM“ promise to express Energy Ace’s commitment to the LEED success of its clients’ projects and to provide our clients with a measure of confidence that their project will reach its LEED certification goal. As far as we know, this offer is unique in the building sustainability industry.
Chris: Who is interested in using your Green Guaranteed program?
Wayne: Green GuaranteedTM has attracted a lot of interest, when recently an architect asked us for that service vis-à-vis a city hall project for a small town that was making its initial venture into the LEEDTM world. That is a good example of where Green GuaranteedTM is applicable: where the client seeks reassurance that his LEED project will be successful.
Another instance came up a few months ago from a major office park developer in our area who wanted to attract a Federal government tenant to lease 110,000SF of space in his park. The proposed tenant had a LEED Silver requirement for this LEED CI project and the office park developer sought a measure of assurance that he could promise that to this prospective tenant.
Chris: What sort of demand do you anticipate in the future?
Wayne: Our crystal ball shows that as the number of sustainability mandates and ordinances continue spread throughout the land, more and more architects, owners, developers and leasing agents will desire reassurance of some sort that their LEED project will be successful.
Energy Ace is dead on correct that the future is guarantying (or maybe more precisely, warranting) that a project will be LEED certified, IGCC compliant, consistent with 189.1, or the like. Requirements of tenants, government mandates and the like are driving the demand. The non legal affiliate of our law firm has warranted green building projects and continues to do so .. see, www.ajhon.com
I am wondering: What insurance does Energy Ace hold? In many insurance policies such warranties/guarantees are uninsurable. Is Energy Ace essentially acting as a surety in case of non-LEED certification?
Chris, this is pretty interesting. Obviously, one of the major issues with using LEED as a mandate or for various incentives is what are the ramifications if a project fails to meet the proposed certification.
Do you know what happens if Energy Ace does not meet their guarantee?
I just attended a seminar about green building risk management. The presenter (a risk management consultant) represents primarily design and construction professionals. He had a slide showing the contractual clauses he recommends to his clients. He explicitly stated that under no circumstance should an AEC professional offer any guarantee or warranty regarding certification. This is despite the fact that many of his clients are working on projects where certain levels of certification are mandated by regulatory provisions at various levels.
I'm with Melissa - what kind of insurance does Energy Ace hold?
Melissa and Brian - I don't know what insurance company Energy Ace uses.
Joe - In one of my previous posts, I highlighted why the Energy Ace guarantee is genius - Energy Ace just pays back its LEED administration fee. See here:
http://www.greenbuildinglawupdate.com/2009/08/articles/legal-developments/why-energy-aces-leed-guarantee-is-brilliant/
If I were an owner, getting the LEED admin fee back doesn't feel like a guarantee. I agree with Brian and Melissa. Unless you have an unlimited budget and unlimited time, and you work with a competent design team, it seems irresponsible to guarantee LEED Certification. Things get value engineered out, budgets get cut, credits come back with questions from reviewers, etc.
The best way to guarantee Certification and quality projects is to institutionalize sustainability in your company. Unfortunately, there are only a small number of firms that have institutionalized product specs, integrated design, continuing education, standard performance requirements, ongoing M&V, etc that demonstrates a real commitment to sustainability. You can add on as many green certifications as you want, but unless you have the capability to deliver them in a quality, cost-effective way, it's just an inefficient add on.
Sustainable Performance Institute
www.greenroundtable.org/spi
I own a dumpster company that struggles with companies that say they are leeds certified. To a point its possible, but not anything you can gaurantee.