Newly Built vs Renovated: Achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification Through the most Cost-Effective Method

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is a worldwide program that certifies buildings for their incorporation of energy-efficient design strategies and practices to improve the energy use and waste of buildings. In this investigation, we focus on the LEED certification process for residential homes, and the cost implications to meet this certification. We looked at the requirements to meet a certain level of certification, the process of submitting the building for inspection, and the different levels of certification that can be achieved. We then calculated the costs of all materials and aspects that go towards renovating an existing residential building and compared that to the costs towards building a new LEED certified building. Preliminary results showed that, depending on the size of the building and the state of the existing home, it is generally less expensive to construct a new home to achieve certification; this is being confirmed. We predict that this is due to the constraints of the existing conditions, systems, fixtures and appliances that can be replaced without completely gutting the home. These results could be beneficial to future home owners when weighing their options for a new energy efficient home