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Using software to manage LEED documentation |
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This series of articles would be helpful to anyone in the construction industry who needs to track LEED documentation or establish a LEED certification program for a project. By reading these articles, the reader will come to know some software and Web-based options for tracking and managing LEED certifications.
One does not have to read very far into any of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) program requirements for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification to realize that the documentation necessary to support the awarding of certifications requires some extensive tracking. Right at the top of the requirements for project certification for new construction and major renovations, for example, there are 15 requirements related just to sustainable sites. Those are followed by 39 requirements related to water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Each requirement could easily involve tracking the input and revisions of many stakeholders to fully document certification and the efforts that went into the certification process.
In the U.S. the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), a non-profit organization established in 2007 with the support of USGBC, operates the Web based submission portal, LEED Online V3, as a means of “managing the LEED documentation process.” According to the GBCI, project teams using this tool “can manage project details, complete documentation requirements for LEED credits and prerequisites, upload supporting files, submit applications for review, receive reviewer feedback, and ultimately earn LEED certification.” Using LEED Online V3 has been a requirement for those seeking any LEED certification since the enactment of LEED V3 in April 2009. LEED V3 is the latest iteration of the USGBC’s program aimed at creating a “sustainable built environment within a generation.”
(International LEED certification schemes, such as Canada’s Green Building Council LEED Canada effort or Green Building Council Australia’s Green Star program, require significant documentation to be submitted in very precise formats as well.)
There are a number of software systems and Web-based tools available to help with the process of instituting and tracking a LEED certification program while it is in the period leading up to submittal for certification to the GBCI or other certifying authority. This series of articles highlights examples of LEED-related systems in the following categories:
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