Specifying LEED Requirements: Lessons Learned from Masterspec

from Architectural Computer Services, Inc. (Arcom, producers of The American Institute of Architects’ Masterspec^®), www.arcomnet.com, 800-424-5080. Softcover book and CD-ROM, 2004, 250 pages, $240.

As anyone who has tried knows all too well, incorporating all the requirements for a LEED^® project into the construction documents is no small task. Designers and spec-writers who’ve worked on LEED projects in the past can draw from those previous specifications and save a lot of time, but the first time through is always a challenge.

The American Institute of Architects’

Masterspec^® is a widely used master specification system, with specification language that aims to include all commonly needed requirements. Designers using

Masterspec edit the master system for their projects by deleting requirements that don’t apply and selecting or inserting the appropriate parameters for other requirements.

Recognizing the specification demands of the LEED Rating System, the writers of

Masterspec have been proactive in including LEED-related requirements in the master specifications as the sections are revised. In all, nearly 100 sections now contain specific LEED language. They have also drafted whole new sections: one on LEED requirements in general, another on construction waste management, and a third on commissioning.

All of these materials are compiled in Arcom’s new resource,

Specifying LEED Requirements. This book and its accompanying CD-ROM include all the LEED-related materials that Masterspec subscribers receive, including guidance documents, sample paragraphs to insert into the relevant sections, and lists for use in coordinating requirements across sections and with construction drawings. It even provides a large matrix indicating which specification sections are affected by each LEED credit.

Providing this level of guidance in a comprehensive manner is a mammoth undertaking, and these documents do a reasonable—but far from perfect—job. Among the most valuable function they serve is to translate the requirements of various reference standards, such as Green Seal’s GS-11 standard for paints and coatings, into specific requirements governing the selection of paints. Sections that have not yet been updated for LEED, such as those covering windows (which could feature certified wood or recycled content) and structural steel (an important category for recycled content), are missing from this resource. There are also many LEED credits, such as those relating to energy efficiency, renewable energy systems, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and daylighting, that cannot be addressed in terms of specification requirements until the relevant systems have been designed.

Given the ongoing changes to LEED,

Specifying LEED Requirements could become dated quickly. It remains to be seen how aggressively this material will be updated and expanded to address other LEED rating systems, such as LEED for Commercial Interiors. Recent public comment drafts of LEED-NC 2.2 contain enough changes that these specifications will need significant revisions to apply to that document once it is formally adopted.

In spite of these concerns, for anyone developing a set of specifications with LEED-NC version 2.0 or 2.1 requirements for the first time, this book is worth its weight in gold. It lays out many of the requirements clearly and will save lots of time and effort. It will prove helpful even for sections that it hasn’t addressed, because the model it sets forth is relatively easy to replicate.

– NM