Building LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) with Todd Lynch

“For a resale value, new buyers are very interested as all those things pay benefit back to the owners.”

Todd M. Lynch, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, is a Principal Project Planner for UCLA Capital Programs, with specialty in sustainable design and construction of new buildings and major remodels, from initial studies through construction and into post-occupancy. Todd has helped many campus projects achieve certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System.  He teaches Architecture and Sustainability at UCLA, and a Board member for the USGBC-LA.   While Todd is actively involved in sustainable design and building at institutional levels in several professional capacities, he is also a principal architect for a private practice of Sharif Lynch Architecture.  

• Can you briefly explain what LEED AP means for architectural professionals?
• If a home owner or property owner wants to design a new home, what would be the benefit of hiring LEED AP architects?
• How would a LEED AP architect design a home differently than architects who don’t have this accreditation?
• You are quite involved in the sustainable design and building at much larger scales than a single family homes through UCLA, what is your sense for the current trend for green home designs?  Do you think it is getting to be more in demand?  If so, what is the factors that are making green homes more in demand?  If not, why is it?
• Here’s a question I ask everybody.  Do you think designing and building a green home, even if it’s a renovation of an existing house, is necessarily more expensive – not considering the savings through the energy efficiency and reduced medical cost? 

Reach Todd Lynch at:  tlynch@capnet.ucla.edu