Section 4: LEED-Related Soft Costs
Discussion of Findings
approximately 6 percent higher than in the
corresponding Expert Consultant cases. This
The difference in costs between the two approaches
variation is primarily attributed to the approximate
warrants an assessment. As noted, the Expert
nature of tying soft costs to construction costs, and
Consultant fees were developed using hourly
also to the specific assumptions used for the
estimates of listed tasks. This was done to establish
construction cost increase and design team fee.
a soft cost fee independent of construction costs.
The Experienced Design/Construction Team
Overall, however, the two sets of estimates tend to
estimates, on the other hand, were developed using
reinforce the following range of soft costs for the
construction-cost-based fee increases for the LEED
twelve case studies (rounded off to the nearest
Process tasks, with gross assumptions for the
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.05/GSF):construction cost increases and design team fees.
Certified Rating:
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.35
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.45/GSFThis was done as a check and comparison to the
first approach, to assess how consistent the results
Silver Rating:
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.40
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.55/GSFwould be.
Gold Rating:
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.55
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.80/GSFAs the estimates were developed, it was generally
It is noteworthy that the range of projected soft
assumed that the Expert Consultant approach
costs increases as the rating level moves from
would be somewhat more expensive then the
Certified to Silver to Gold. This generally
Experienced Design/Construction Team approach.
corresponds to the increasing range of hard costs
As previously noted, this is because the soft costs
that were identified for each LEED rating level in
include both the consultant's fees and the design
Section One of the study.
team's fees for their own learning and coordination
efforts. As calculated in the expert consultant
Additional Considerations
models, these additional coordination costs
(identified primarily through task MC-9 of Table
H-1 in Appendix H) represent about 20 to 35
Commissioning
percent of the total LEED soft cost fee, or about 1
percent of the total design fee for projects of this
Commissioning is one of the most significant soft
size1.
costs that can be incurred on a LEED project.
Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning is a
Using these numbers as a guide, it was assumed that
prerequisite in LEED, while Additional
the experienced design/construction team's LEED
Commissioning (Credit EA-3) can be earned for
fees should generally be anywhere from 0 to 35
performing additional commissioning tasks and
percent less than the fees in the Expert Consultant
using a Commissioning Authority independent of
model. The degree of cost reduction is assumed to
the design team. As noted in Section 2 of this
vary based on the experience level of the design
report, commissioning is already a requirement in
team, their negotiated fees, and the LEED-based
GSA projects, independent of LEED. A
construction cost increase included in the project.
Commissioning Authority, typically from a
The Experienced Design/Construction Team
Construction Management firm, is hired
estimates generally confirm these assumptions, as
independently of the A/E team, and provides a
the soft costs in 10 of the 12 LEED scenarios are
range of GSA-mandated services that qualify
1.5 to 20 percent lower than their corresponding
projects for both the LEED Prerequisite and
estimates in the Expert Consultant models. In two
Additional Commissioning credit. For the purposes
of the scenarios (1A and 3A), the soft costs are
of this study, commissioning costs are not
considered LEED-based premiums.
Assuming an overall design fee based on 6% of the
1
The soft costs associated with the LEED
project construction cost. For the baseline Courthouse
Prerequisite commissioning requirements are
building, the 6% fee is approximately .4 million. The
estimated to be in the range of
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.60
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.80/GSFarchitect's coordination fees from item MC-9 range from
for projects of the scale and complexity of the
,000 - ,000. The coordination fees are therefore
about 1% of the total design fee before any
Courthouse and Office building models used in this
adjustments for "green" construction costs.
GSA LEED COST STUDY
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