Here are 10 key questions to consider when deciding whether or not to seek LEED certification:

1. What tangible benefits do you expect from a certification program?
2. What’s the expected cost? The expected timeline?
3. Do you have the staff to manage and see the certification process through?
4. Do you anticipate disposing of the property or the business in the near future? As part of an acquisition or outright sale? Or do you anticipate retaining the asset? Is there a value to the certification in any of these scenarios?
5. How important to your company is the “brand value” of a third-party certification?
6. How much value would a third party certification hold for your clients or customers? For your investors? For your employees?
7. Are you a publicly traded company with significant expectations for your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program?
8. Will the certification process assist in guiding the choices you must make during a building design and construction program?
9. How does the “C-suite” weigh in? How does your Investor Relations department feel? Legal? Corporate Communications? Human Resources?
10. If you pursue and obtain certification, what’s your plan to maximize its value to your business post-award?

This cleanroom tip was taken from “To LEED or not to LEED?,” which appeared in the March 2013 issue of Controlled Environments.