Mike in TO
Senior Member
As to the argument about cost. Most analysts agree that LEED certification only adds between 1.5% - 3% to the cost of building a certified building:
None of our major developers from Ontario are listed on there. And if you have a look at board listings for the CaGBC there are several major developers again who are not participating. I think mandating their participation is necessary if they aren't going to do it voluntarily.
I agree in general with many of you points - two items I'll mention...
Re: costs - it depends on what level of LEED certification - that 1.5% to 3% of the cost you suggested is just what the additional paperwork can cost alone which is one reason why LEED hasn't really taken off in Canada yet (The few LEED platinum homes built in Ontario today have massive premiums in the 30% of costs range). Another reason is that up to 3 weeks ago it was an American program with American standards that were imported to Canada through various pilot programs - the Canadian program was only just rolled out.
Second item you mentioned was lack of LEED participation - there is a variety of reasons for this related to costs and excessive paperwork and the fact that provincially on the low-rise side of the equation it was an American standard and they've just completed putting together the Canadian program. There are also some liability concerns within the building community related to LEED and there is a general preference towards other programs.
There are a lot of builders voluntarily participating in other programs. EnergyStar has exploded the past couple years from virtually nothing the about 5,000 homes last year. Many major builders such as Mattamy only build EnergyStar Homes - they won't offer homes built to the OBC. GreenHouse is a new program just launched last fall and it may take a little while to take off due to current market conditions.
I think here in Toronto we focus too much on LEED since it's the only game in town for high-rise and the ICI sector, the low-rise sector has a range of programs that various builders are participating in.
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