Should facility managers, since they have the option, choose to use LEEDv4 or LEED 2009?
This will depend on the individual goals of the facility owner and staff and their long term plans. Will LEEDv4 be more rigorous and perhaps present more challenges to certification? You betcha! Is there value in a more rigorous approach and accounting of performance and pursuing a higher bar? Of course! So the question really becomes, “are we invested enough in best practices and accountability to dig a little deeper and reach a little farther than we might otherwise have done?” If so, then LEEDv4 is for you, and the difference in the value of the building, the avoidance of cost and the performance of your systems and people will benefit owner and occupants for decades to come.
Jamie Qualk, LEED AP BD+C, is vice president, SSRCx, a division of Smith Seckman Reid engineering design and facility consulting firm. He lectures in the Civil Engineering department of Vanderbilt University regarding sustainability and construction and also at Lipscomb University in the Institute for Sustainable Practice. You can follow him on Twitter @Jamie_Qualk.
LEED Improving on Bridging the Design to Operations Gap
Overcoming the Biggest LEED Challenges
Value of LEED Certification is Third-Party Verification
LEEDv4 or LEED 2009
