Executive Summary
Executive Summary:
GSA LEED Cost Study
reflect applicable federal design requirements, as
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
defined in GSA's Facilities Standards for the Public
commissioned this study to estimate the costs to
Buildings Service (document PBS-P100, 2003), and,
develop "green" federal facilities using the U.S.
for Courthouses, the Administrative Office of the
Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and
United States Courts' U. S. Courts Design Guide. The
Environmental Design (LEED) Building Rating
design standards were also used as the basis for
System, Version 2.1. The report provides a detailed
evaluating each LEED prerequisite and credit. An
and structured review of both the hard cost and
analysis was performed to identify green building
soft cost implications of achieving Certified, Silver,
measures--above and beyond those included in
and Gold LEED ratings for two GSA building
GSA's standards--that would likely be
types, using GSA's established design standards as
implemented to meet the specific LEED
the point of comparison.
prerequisite and credit requirements. From these
The two building types examined in the study are:
measures, cost impact estimates were developed for
each prerequisite and credit, with variations defined
1. A new mid-rise federal Courthouse (five
for both the Courthouse and Office Building
stories, 262,000 GSF, including 15,000 GSF of
models. The individual credit costs were also
underground parking; base construction cost is
categorized, using the following key:
approximately 0/GSF)
1. GSA mandate (no cost)
2. A mid-rise federal Office Building
2. No Cost/Potential Cost Decrease
modernization (nine stories, 306,600 GSF,
3. Low Cost (< K)
including 40,700 GSF of underground parking;
4. Moderate Cost (K-0K)
base construction cost is approximately
5. High Cost (>0K)
0/GSF).
From these individual credit assessments, overall
These building types reflect a significant percentage
project cost estimates were developed for 12 LEED
of GSA's planned capital projects over the next five
rating "scenarios" (6 for each building type). The
to ten years.
scenarios were defined as follows:
Construction Cost Impacts
New Courthouse. Two estimates were developed
at the Certified, Silver, and Gold rating levels.
For each of the two building types, baseline
At each rating level, one "low cost" and one
construction cost estimates were developed to
GSA LEED COST STUDY
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