What is LEED?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a USGBC environmental assessment tool created to guide environmentally responsible practices in designing and constructing buildings to improve the environment for future generations. LEED is widely used in the commercial building sector, but can also be used for other buildings such as homes, schools, neighborhood development, retail stores, and hospitals. LEED is divided into several rating systems, each system consisting of similar categories with a variety of credits. Each credit is optional and can earn the project points. There are also prerequisites, which are mandatory tasks and do not earn the project any extra points.

LEED Consideration

The following scorecard gives is our estimate of the possible credits that are attainable in LEED based on our design and calculations. The maybe points are available if the owner would like to spend more money on getting these additional features added to the design for higher efficiency and lower environmental interactions. Based on our calculations and design, it is possible to achieve the level of certification, LEED Certified. Depending on the additional points desired to achieve, the DADU can achieve up to LEED Platinum with proper funding.

For owners who are interested in pursuing a DADU for their lot, we recommend reaching out to companies that have experience with specialty homes like DADUs. An example of such a company is Stratton Exteriors, which is a company that specializes in designing and building additions to properties, including DADUs. Stratton Exteriors work on DADUs that fit the owner’s interests and needs.