Delaware and "Green" Land Development

The State of Delaware is among many states who are progressing towards green development practices. One practice which is growing in popularity is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). LEED provides a number of standards for environmentally sustainable design, construction, and operation of buildings. These design standards are a useful guideline for developers, engineers, and architects to create a green and sustainable project from construction to maintenance of a building. Once a project is designed it is rated by a committee to ensure it meets enough of these standards to be considered a LEED certified project.

An example of a LEED certified project in Delaware is the Delaware Welcome Center, which is currently under construction along I-95. The link below will show you some pretty drawings of the completed project, some details about the stores, and the LEED certification it received.

http://www.ediscompany.com/Current-Projects/Delaware-Welcome-Center

In my experience as a Civil Engineer, LEED projects can be effective in the long run. Although it does raise the price of initial design, because it is another design criteria that must be met which can raise the complexity of the design. It also has to go through an additional committee which can increased the time the design takes if rejected (a common occurrence). Therefore, engineering and architecture costs will be higher, but because the State of Delaware is the client paying the bill it may not a big deal.

These initial costs are not always tolerated by private developers, unless they can sell the building for a higher price, or if they get a tax rebate from the State or Federal government. It is unsure how long these tax rebates will continue to be given out, but hopefully the market will be willing to pay a higher price based on the energy and environmental sustainability of the building.

The interest in green development is growing and the practices are constantly improving. The more the market pushes for green development and sustainability the faster new construction will comply. The long lasting benefits of green development are evident, but there is still a ways to go before all new construction is sustainable.