Make LEED Easy: Relational Contracting and LEED

A builder had called to give me a LEED update on a recent project.  “We’ve been doing the tracking that you asked, and it looks like we’re going to have double the regional content we previously expected”. Double? “We were able to find a couple of products that we could purchase locally for the same price. Good deal, eh?” For a moment I thought I was dreaming.

What made this project special? From the start it was done differently.

Since its implementation, LEED has been the most foul of four letter words for builders, representing only an increase in required documentation and incomprehensible new tomes we call specifications.

We, as LEED specialists, are to blame.

Contractor kick offs are typically a superficial attempt to belatedly manufacture buy-in.  They instruct rather than involve.  Why do we do things this way? The only answer is: because that is how it has always been done.

We had to do it differently. 

Integrated Project Delivery, like any relational contracting methodology, focuses on creating a non-confrontational, collaborative project environment.  The ultimate goal is to have every member of the design and construction team to have a voice. Informed and empowered, the builder has a chance to provide feedback and gain perspective.

On this project, the builder sat in on all of the design meetings.  We went through the LEED requirements. Provided input on which credits he thought would be easiest to get.  And by the time it was all done, LEED reverted from being a four letter word back to an acronym.

Throughout the project he was able to spot situations in which he could further the LEED goals, sometimes on credits we weren’t originally pursuing. He watched products coming on to site like a hawk, understanding that one little slip meant a whole lot more work and expense for everyone.  In short, one empowered builder made LEED a lot easier.