Designing to LEED standards: building greater sustainability.

• Author: White, Rindi
• Position: CONSTRUCTION

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Alaska isn't in the top ten states with the most green buildings per capita, not even close. With fewer than fifty buildings across the state certified with LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Alaska lags far behind other states when it comes to the average number of square feet of LEED-certified space per resident.

But that's slowly changing. Alaska architecture and engineering firms report a growing interest in LEED-certified construction and, perhaps more importantly, a wider availability of sustainable building products, such as paint with low emissions.

According to some Alaska-based firms with LEED experience, the trend toward sustainable building practices goes deeper than that.

"For most design firms [locally and nationally] the principals of LEED have become the new standard of practice. In that case ... if you want a building that is LEED Certified, we will deliver you one. If you don't want one, we are still designing around those standards as the minimum anyway," says McCool Carlson Green Principal Architect Jason Gamache.

What is LEED?

LEED is a comprehensive standard of construction that aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources more effectively. LEED is a registered trademark of the US Green Building Council, or USGBC. The LEED green building program is the preeminent program for the design, construc tion, maintenance, and operations of high-performance green buildings.

According to a press release by USGBC, LEED-certified buildings and spaces "use fewer energy and water resources, save money for families, businesses and taxpayers, reduces carbon emissions, creates jobs and establishes a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community."

Some municipalities, state agencies, and federal departments require that new buildings be LEED certified, says Lyle Axelarris, a structural engineer at Design Alaska and member of the LEED version 4 Regionalization Task Force, which aims to incorporate regional details in the latest version of LEED design standards.

Several federal executive orders laid out requirements that construction of federal buildings meet "Guiding Principles for High Performance Sustainable Buildings," principles that align closely to LEED standards and have led agencies to mandate LEED certification for new buildings and some existing buildings. In Alaska, about one-third of the LEED-certified buildings that have been built are federally owned.

LEED is a global certification program, with more than 180 countries participating. It's the most broadly recognized green building certifications...