LEED experiences and opinions, please

[AZCat]

I was reminded today by this post of something I have been meaning to do for the last month.

I work for an engineering consulting firm here in Southern Arizona. Recently there has been increased interest in our area in obtaining a particular kind of "green certification" for buildings. The certification is called "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" (or LEED) and it is run by the Green Building Council. Some of this interest has been driven by a recent executive order signed by the governor that requires all state-funded buildings constructed after June 3, 2005 to meet at least the Silver LEED standard (Executive Order 2005-5 - pdf file) and some by the recent passage of the Energy Bill (there are some energy efficiency-related things in it), while wome of the interest (we have wondered) might be just architects and developers chasing after the newest building fad.

Our office is interested in LEED because the consulting work we do (HVAC and plumbing) overlaps quite a bit with the LEED system. Not only are LEED-certified buildings more interesting to design, they offer a chance to build something that is more in-line with our personal philosophies than the usual. There has been quite a bit of discussion about LEED in our office (about the "points" system and the potential designs, among other issues), and I am interested in hearing what kind of experiences anyone else has had with LEED projects.

[Riverman]

1. Doing a LEED project now!

I am building a government building in CA and going for LEED certification - likely Silver.

[AZCat]

2. Great!

I didn't expect to get a response so quickly!

How is your project going? Is it your first LEED project?