FAQs


What is LEED?

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) is an internationally recognized green building certification system,  providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. 

LEED is a voluntary certification program that can be applied to any building type and any building lifecycle phase.  It promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in key areas:  Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design and Regional Priority.  For more information about what LEED measures, visit this USGBC web page.

Which LEED programs do you work with?

We work with LEED for New Construction, LEED for Schools, LEED for Core & Shell, LEED for Commercial Interiors and LEED for Existing Buildings:  Operations & Maintenance.

What is your role on projects?

It depends on the scope that our client needs.  The most typical scope gets us involved very early in design and continues to the end of construction.  We work closely with the design and construction teams to help them set sustainable design goals early, and keep them on track throughout the design and construction process.  It's our job to stay on top of the newest information available to improve the sustainability of the built environment.  Quality assurance and documentation of goals are also core services.  For more information, please visit the Services section of our website.

Do you work with other green building programs?

Yes, we work with many other green building programs such as Green Building Initiatives Green Globes®, the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (which has been tailored for many States), the Living Building Challenge initiative by the Cascadia Green Building Council, and other high performance building programs.

What is the Green Globes program?

Green Globes®, in our opinion, is an alternative to the LEED® rating program, and may be a good alternative for small new construction projects or existing buildings.

The Green Globes website gives the following descriptionof their program:  Green Globes is a green building guidance and assessment program that offers an effective, practical and affordable way to advance the overall environmental performance and sustainability of commercial buildings.

Essential elements of the Green Globes system include:

  • Comprehensive environmental assessment protocol
  • Software tools that speed and simplify online assessment
  • Best practices guidance for green construction and operations
  • Qualified assessors with green building expertise
  • Rating/certification system

The Green Globes software tools and ratings/certification system ensures that environmental impacts are comprehensively assessed on a 1,000 point scale in multiple environmental assessment categories:

  • Energy
  • Indoor Environment
  • Site
  • Water
  • Resources
  • Emissions
  • Project/Environmental Management

After achieving a threshold of at least 35% of the total number of 1,000 points, new and existing commercial buildings can be certified for their environmental achievements and sustainability by pursuing Green Globes certification that assigns a rating of one to four globes.

Highly qualified third-party assessors (with expertise in green building design, engineering, construction and facility operations) conveniently interface with project teams and building owners during the third-party assessment process by reviewing building documentation and conducting on-site walk throughs. Green Globes rating/certification is suitable and practically attainable for a wide range of commercial buildings, and enables building owners to credibly market their environmental responsibility to shareholders, tenants, and the broader community.

Do you recommend materials?

Yes, we research materials and systems on an on-going basis to keep track of the new developments in the green/sustainable design field.  We keep the results of our research in a database that we use to pull recommendations for our projects.  Since each project's requirements, budget and sustainable design goals are different, we make our recommendations keeping all of these constraints in mind.

Where are your projects?

Design Balance has been providing sustainable design services since 1996, so we have developed a deep client base with projects all over the U.S.  We currently have projects in Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, Montana, Idaho and Washington.  We have also worked on projects in states as diverse as Vermont, New York, Texas, Arizona, Wyoming, Oregon and California.

Who usually hires you?

Our clients are building owners, architects, contractors, government agencies, school districts, developers and real estate trusts.  Who hires us depends on the type of project, how it's being built and the client's priority for sustainable design excellence.


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Photographs © 2013 Kelly Karmel unless otherwise noted.

Project Renderings courtesy of the Architect.