Drexel Study: Green Globes Cheaper, Less Rigorous Than LEED

The Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building is a five-story, 130,000 ft2 laboratory and classroom building that opened in September 2011 at Drexel University in Philadelphia. To evaluate green rating systems offered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Building Initiative (GBI), Drexel had the project certified under both, earning LEED Gold and Three Green Globes, respectively.

LEED documentation costs more

Three years later, the project is the subject of a study released by GBI suggesting that LEED costs more than Green Globes. “A Study of Comparative Sustainability Certification Costs,” funded by GBI and authored by Jeffrey Beard, Ph.D., associate professor of construction management, shows that although design and construction costs attributed to both systems were equivalent, LEED certification costs led to higher expenditures.