Green Plumbing & Mechanical Design
The Spec Writer's Role in LEED
by Ross G. Spiegel, FAIA, FCSI, FIGP, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP BD+C
July 1, 2010
A spec writer can help a project achieve its LEED goals as seen in this building in Connecticut.
Five key steps will help your project’s chances of obtaining certification.
Green building is a hot topic today. Whenever discussion turns to green
buildings, it usually involves LEED Certification as a way to measure the
greenness of the building.
While achieving many LEED prerequisites and credits involve design and/or
construction decisions, just as many require inclusion of specific requirements
in the specifications. This puts the specification writer in a very important position
to help a project achieve its LEED goals.
A green/sustainable project only can become reality if the contract documents
clearly convey the intent of the design. Through the specifications, the
designer conveys a material’s physical, performance and environmental
attributes as well as its installation instructions. By following some basic
steps of specification writing, the designer can “green” his specifications to
help achieve a project’s sustainability goals.
1. Do Your Homework
The first step is taken long before the specifications are written, but it is a critical step to ensure a successful green/sustainable project. Before the material selection process begins, the designer should compile a list of environmental attributes that materials, which might be specified for a project, should have (i.e., recycled content, low volatile organic compounds content, certified wood).
Similarly, the designer should compile a list of attributes that he does not want to see incorporated into the project through product specifications. While the LEED Rating System does not require the inclusion of plumbing, mechanical and electrical products in the calculations of recycled content or regional materials, the designer may count these products if he does so uniformly across the rating system.
2. Material Options
Designers can create a spreadsheet evaluation form for products. Photo: Sloan Valve Co.
Of course, environmental attributes are not the only ones the designer must take into account in the decision-making process. Fire safety, aesthetics and life-cycle considerations must be added to the list of environmental attributes on projects to make a complete evaluation of the materials. By comparing the attributes of standard urinals vs. high-efficiency urinals, the designer will be able to make an informed selection of flush valves. The designer can also weight the various attributes as a specific project requires. On a green/sustainable project, more weight is typically given to the environmental attributes.
Several credits in the LEED Rating System affect the design of the building’s mechanical systems and how they are specified. For example, the Indoor Environmental Quality Category includes a requirement for minimum indoor air quality performance, which will be reflected in the selection and specification of mechanical equipment that must comply with ASHRAE 62.1. Credit 4.1 in this category limits the volatile organic compounds content of adhesives and sealants, including those used to install fiberglass duct liner. The appropriate specification section should include language that limits the VOC content of the adhesives.
3. Work With Manufacturers
Once the designer completes the
evaluation of all the material categories on a project, he is ready to proceed
to the next step in the specification process: identifying, researching and evaluating
the specific materials and manufacturers in each of the
categories.
While this is the most intensive step in the process, it is also the most
important step. Working with the entire project team, the designer compiles as
much information as possible about the available materials from the
manufacturers. Polling other members of the project team to determine their
experience with the potential products is a valuable benefit of working with a
team. By using the multitude of available building material and environmental
Web sites, the designer can quickly identify materials and manufacturers to
research.
With potential materials identified, the designer then starts to collect
technical information that will be important in the decision-making process. A
good way to start collecting this information is to develop a questionnaire
that can be sent to all manufacturers to request specific information about
their products’ environmental attributes.
While this may seem like a simple chore, it is not. Just sending out
information requests does not always result in a mailbox full of detailed
responses, technical information, samples and other information. Usually
several back and forth exchanges will be necessary before you receive all the
information you are seeking. In some instances you will be disappointed. This
is understandable given the proprietary nature of most products and a
manufacturer’s desire to maintain an edge over its competitors. Sometimes, just
finding the “right” person to ask at a company can be difficult. Nonetheless,
the designer must be persistent.
4. Organization Is Key
A useful evaluation tool that the designer can develop is a spreadsheet-type evaluation form (Figure 1). It should include a column to list the attributes being evaluated and separate columns to indicate the information for each product within a material category. When the form is completed, the designer will have a detailed chart showing how the products stack up against each other. On publicly bid projects where the designer must usually list three manufacturers for each product, the evaluation form will make it easier to find more than one manufacturer that will be able to provide an acceptable product.
5. Time To Write
The compilation and evaluation of materials are critical during the specification process.
Using the earlier flush valve example, the plumbing fixture, the plumbing fixture specification section should include requirements for flush volume and water-conservation features as well as compliance with the EPA WaterSense program. The section also could include guidelines regarding the use of renewable energy in the manufacture of the products and the submittal of documentation that substantiates the environmental attributes.
On publicly bid projects the designer can specify products based upon their performance and attributes rather than naming manufacturers. This, of course, puts the burden on the designer to have a detailed level of knowledge about the products available in each material category. It also requires that the designer employ a very strict substitution policy to ensure only acceptable products make it into the project. Clearly written and detailed specifications will make the designer’s job during the bidding and construction phases much easier.
The steps outlined above employ some of the basic tenets of specification writing that apply equally to both sustainable and nonsustainable projects. They begin at the earliest stages of a project’s development and continue through the design, bidding, and construction phases and end in the project’s completion. Following these steps will enhance a project’s chances of attaining its sustainable goals.
Ross G. Spiegel, FAIA, FCSI, FIGP, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP BD+C
Ross G. Spiegel, FAIA,
FCSI, FIGP, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP BD+C, is a former president of the Constructions
Specifications Institute, CSI’s liaison to the U.S. Green Building Council and
an expert on specifying green products. He is an associate at Fletcher-Thompson,
Inc., and the co-author of the book “Green Building Materials, A Guide to
Product Selection & Specification,” published by John Wiley & Sons. He
can be contacted at rspiegel@ftae.com.
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