LEED Rating System for Green Building

LEED: The USGBC's most important program is called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED has a rating system that builders can use to measure how green a particular building or development is. If a project's score is high enough, it can qualify for LEED certification.

Personal Rewards: A tiny investment in green construction can reward homebuilders with huge savings year after year:

• Building "green" adds less than 2% to the average cost of a non-green house, and it can often cost the same.
• The expected lifetime operating costs for a green building average 20% less than a non-green building.
• LEED certified buildings are designed to use an average of 32% less electricity, 26% less natural gas and 36% less total energy than standard buildings.

Long-Term Benefits: If Americans want their children to enjoy a healthy, comfortable, and happy lifestyle, we must start building green. Traditional buildings use more energy, consume more natural resources, produce more waste, and generate more pollution than any other sector of our culture, including transportation and industry. According to the US Department of Energy, buildings are responsible for the following impact on the United States:

• 70% of the electricity we consume,
• 39% of our energy use (all types),
• 39% of our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions,
• 40% of our raw materials use,
• 30% of our waste output (136 million tons annually), and
• 12% of our potable water consumption

LEED and Kodiak Steel Homes
The materials and design of Kodiak Steel Homes^® models qualify them for LEED points in multiple categories. Listed below are a few examples.

Durability Management

The LEED rating system for homes rewards designs that emphasize durability. Of course, Kodiak Steel Homes kits excel in this category. Not only are our steel framing materials themselves more durable than the more common materials they replace, but the use of steel also eliminates or greatly reduces many of the more common threats to the durability of a home such as termites, mold, settling, and rot.

Heat Island Effect: Roof

Urban zones tend to be warmer than undeveloped areas because most building materials absorb and hold more heat than vegetation. In order to counter this "heat island" effect, LEED specifications try to reduce the heat signature of buildings in general and roofs in particular. To achieve LEED points, a newly constructed roof with a slope greater than 2:12 must have an SRI (heat reflectance) rating of at least 29. Our Energy-Star certified roof panels feature a highly reflective Kynar finish, and all color selections meet this LEED specification, with several far exceeding it.

Non-Toxic Pest Control

A home can receive LEED points if it is designed with "features that minimize the need for poisons for control of insects, rodents, and other pests." Of course termite problems are the most widespread and require the most extreme control methods. Building a Kodiak Steel Homes kit drastically reduces if not totally eliminates the threat of termites and the need for any measures to control them. The all-steel framing is immune to termite damage, and a kit with steel siding and roofing can be finished out without using any wood at all.

Insulation

The LEED specification tries to encourage insulation systems that minimize heat transfer and thermal bridging. Kodiak Steel Homes kits accomplish this in several ways. In addition to the substantial effect of our Energy Star certified roof system, the radiant barrier created by our reflective foil insulation wrap will create a thermal barrier between the metal frame and the environment while greatly increasing the effective R-value of your roof and walls while . Our 6-inch walls allow for almost 2.5 inches more insulation than can be installed in a typical 2x4 wood-stud wall, making our homes one of most energy-efficient structures you can build.

Material Efficient Framing: Waste

A general goal of the LEED specifications is to "optimize the use of framing materials." One of its prerequisites is to minimize the "waste factor," which it defines as the "percentage of framing material ordered in excess of the material needed for construction." With a Kodiak Steel Homes kit, this percentage is virtually zero. Unlike the materials for a wood frame, which have to be fabricated on site and usually include defective pieces, the precut/prepunched framing of a Kodiak Steel Homes kit will leave virtually no excess material and therefore create hardly any waste at all.

Material Efficient Framing: Detailed Framing Documents

Another way that the LEED specifications recommend optimizing the framing is to create and use a detailed framing plan to construct the house. Such plans are almost never used for stick-built houses. On the other hand, every Kodiak Steel Homes kit is a fully engineered structure with a full set of construction drawings that include framing elevations for all frame lines, frame cross sections for all assemblies, and connection details. In other words, the location and connection of every component is illustrated in these drawings.

Material Efficient Framing: Detailed Cut List

It is difficult to optimize framing materials without advance planning, and the LEED spec recommends that a complete list of framing materials be developed before construction begins. Every Kodiak Steel Homes kit comes with a bill of materials that lists every component supplied for the home and that not only includes all framing members but even all the connectors used to assemble them.

Material Efficient Framing: Framing Efficiencies

The LEED specification offers certification points for a number of other framing design elements. All Kodiak Steel Homes models should qualify for at least 3 of these — precut framing package, ceiling joist spacing greater than 16" centers, roof rafter spacing greater than 16" centers — and some may qualify for more.

Environmentally Preferable Products - Recycled Content

As might be expected, LEED specifications give high priority to recycled materials. The steel used in a Kodiak Steel Homes kit will consist of approximately 60% post-consumer recycled content. For some reason, the LEED documents neglect to mention steel or metal specifically; however, an appeal to the examiners through this category or the Innovation in Design category should certainly yield some points.

Environmentally Preferable Products - Low Emissions

Many building materials contain chemicals that can pose both environmental and health hazards, and the LEED specifications encourage builders to use products that do not emit potentially dangerous fumes. Of course steel itself contains none of these toxic materials. Moreover, when our steel siding and roofing is installed over our pre-engineered steel framing with no need for a plywood sheathing board or a plywood roof deck, the Kodiak Steel Homes kit eliminates a number of materials used in wood-framed structures that contain volatile organic compounds (VOC) which can contaminate or otherwise reduce the quality of indoor air. These materials include various types of wood, structural glazing adhesives, and structural wood member adhesives.

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