Blog Posts
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As a commercial property developer and an individual that believes in environmentally responsible development, the whole LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for commercial buildings has left me completely frustrated due to its complexity, relatively high cost to achieve, and the fact that this certification can actually create more waste and cost than it actually saves or benefits?!
In the 2005 article “Is LEED Broken?”, by Jerry Yudelson, PE/MBA, Jerry specifically addresses some of the more common issues and complaints with the LEED certification process. This is one of many articles that have been published on this topic more recently.
So where does that leave developers and building owners who still want to build and operating their property in a “green” fashion? Not in a good place after attempting to achieve the LEED standard only to find yourself several thousands of dollars later that it’s cost-prohibitive to complete.
At the recent Midwest ICSC Conference in Chicago (October 2010), an all-new green building certification was unveiled in an effort to provide a solution for all of those interested in building new or renovating existing structures in an environmentally conscience way without creating undue waste, or spending so much money to complete that the certification is simply not worth it.
This new standard is referred to as “SERF”, which stands for the “Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities” and provides the resources and forums to help interested parties promote and share methods to cost-effectively achieve Practical Environmental Stewardship™. This certification is not about rolling out another exclusive club that’s too costly to join, but rather about helping educate and involve everyone in our collective responsibility to become more environmentally responsible in property development, renovation and on-going management.
After a detailed review the standards established by SERF; discussing these standards with a couple of our building architects and civil engineers; and personally meeting with Joseph Maguire, the founder of SERF, regarding their standards and the catalysis behind developing this certification, I have decided to fully support this organization and begin to work toward the certification of our different property holdings.
Please watch for future posts on this topic as our team becomes more involved with this important movement and as we achieve certification on our first few structures.
