Standard Of Sustainability -- Building A Green Los Angeles

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(Mandatory for large projects)
Threshold: The Standard of Sustainability establishes a requirement for non-residential projects at or above 50,000sf of floor area, high-rise residential (above six stories) projects at or above 50,000sf of floor area, or low-rise residential (six stories or less) of 50 or more dwelling units within buildings of at least 50,000sf of floor area to meet the intent of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED®) Certified level. The Standard also applies to existing buildings that meet the minimum thresholds described above when redevelopment construction costs exceed a valuation of 50% of the existing building’s replacement cost.
Requirement: Must include a LEED® Accredited Professional (LEED® AP) on the project team and demonstrate that the project has met the intent of the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED® Certified level. Formal certification by the USGBC is not required. The Standard for non-residential/high-rise residential projects will be effective on November 1, 2008. The Standard will apply to low-rise residential projects on May 1, 2009.

LEED® rating systems
LEED® Rating Systems include New Construction (NC), Existing Buildings (EB), Commercial Interiors (CI), Core and Shell (CS) and Homes (H). LEED® programs currently in pilot are Retail, Healthcare, Neighborhood Development and Homes for Multifamily. Applicants that pursue LEED® certification and/or are subject to the Standard of Sustainability may select the LEED® Rating System best suited to their project, including the ones still in pilot phase. Applicants should review the various systems to determine which is most advantageous, as some projects may fit into a variety of systems. For example, a building undergoing an extensive remodel or an adaptive reuse could pursue either LEED® EB or NC.

LEED® PointS
While each LEED® Rating System is similarly structured and has the identical certification levels [Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum], the number of points required to achieve each of the levels varies. The minimum number of points required for the LEED® NC Certified level is 26, whereas for LEED® CI it is 21 and for CS it is 23. While LEED® is designed to provide each project a high degree of flexibility in selecting how they achieve their points, each project must achieve all of the prerequisites that pertain to the selected Rating System.

LEED® rating system Checklist
LEED® Rating System Checklists are organized in a similar manner. Each varies slightly due to the alternative construction types and/or building stage at which they apply. For example, a LEED® NC Checklist considers the site selection flexibility that is inherent in building a new building. Alternatively, the LEED® CI Checklist reflects the existing site and building conditions and characteristics that a tenant may confront. Typically, the Checklists include point options within the broad categories of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resource, indoor environmental quality, and innovation. The various LEED® Checklists can be obtained at: http://www.usgbc.org

LEED® rating system updateS
As green building technologies and innovations rapidly evolve, USGBC periodically updates its various Rating Systems. The new versions are announced up to one year in advance, providing time for the project team to incorporate the new thresholds should a project expect that it will be subject to the updated version. A project pursuing the Standard of Sustainability shall be evaluated for LEED® intent based upon either the LEED® version in effect when either the project submits for a building permit or, in the case a project that registers with USGBC, the version in effect on the date that the project registered with USGBC.

green building a
los angeles
(Mandatory for large projects)
Threshold: The Standard of Sustainability establishes a requirement for non-residential projects at or above 50,000sf of floor area, high-rise residential (above six stories) projects at or above 50,000sf of floor area, or low-rise residential (six stories or less) of 50 or more dwelling units within buildings of at least 50,000sf of floor area to meet the intent of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED®) Certified level. The Standard also applies to existing buildings that meet the minimum thresholds described above when redevelopment construction costs exceed a valuation of 50% of the existing building’s replacement cost.
Requirement: Must include a LEED® Accredited Professional (LEED® AP) on the project team and demonstrate that the project has met the intent of the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED® Certified level. Formal certification by the USGBC is not required. The Standard for non-residential/high-rise residential projects will be effective on November 1, 2008. The Standard will apply to low-rise residential projects on May 1, 2009.

LEED® Accredited Professionals
It is required that a LEED® Accredited Professional (LEED® AP) be part of the project team. Information about local consultants can be obtained from the USGBC website at: http://www.usgbc.org.

Timetable and ExEMptions
The Standard of Sustainability for non-residential/high-rise residential projects will be in effect on November 1, 2008 and on May 1, 2009 for low-rise residential projects. Any development project whose plans were accepted by the Department of Building and Safety (DBS) for plan check and/or had filed and had deemed complete an entitlement application with the Department of City Planning (DCP) (with the exception of CEQA review) prior to the effective date of this Standard shall be exempt.

Planning Application
A preliminary LEED® Checklist and declaration signed by the LEED® AP shall be included with the Application. The Checklist shall identify which LEED® credits the project expects to pursue and demonstrate that the project shall, at a minimum, comply with the intent of LEED® at a Certified level. The Planner assigned to the project shall compare the LEED® Checklist with the project’s conceptual plans for consistency and completeness.

City Planning Clearance
DBS shall refer an applicant to DCP for clearance prior to issuing the building permit for projects that meet the threshold criteria for the Standard of Sustainability. In order to receive the clearance, a project shall submit the LEED® Checklist, a complete set of plans and a declaration signed by the LEED® AP asserting that the project has met the intent of LEED® at a Certified level .

Audit
A third-party audit will be conducted for every seventh project that is submitted for clearance. The audit will include a review of the project’s LEED® Checklist, construction drawings, and specifications to confirm the project has met the intent of LEED®. The initial audit will be completed within 36 hours of the project’s submittal. At this time the project applicant will either be issued a list of corrections or issued the clearance. Should the project receive a list of corrections, the applicant will need to return the corrected project documentation in order to further pursue and ultimately obtain the clearance.

Fee
It is anticipated that there will be a fee of $268 for projects that require LEED clearance for the Standard of Sustainability.

Alternative Clearance Option
At the time of clearance request, projects that can demonstrate that they have received confirmation from USGBC that each of the project’s Design Review credits have been designated as “Anticipated” shall automatically receive the DCP clearance. Projects that successfully pursue this option shall be exempt from the fee described above.


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