To certify or not to certify, that was the question Activity and Aquatic Centre renovations project lead Christopher Read put before Council on Tuesday.

Read asked for an extra $60 thousand to put towards a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the new fitness centre. With or without the official LEED certification, the new fitness centre will be built to comply with the LEED checklist, said Read. The extra money simply pays for the certification, which must take place at the design stages rather than later on in the project.

LEED certification is part of the Canada Green Building Council (CGBC) that “promotes a whole building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environment health”, according to their website.

Currently, the new fitness centre has been designed in such a way that it would meet a Gold level which is the second highest level possible.

According to Read, the certification would mean an extra “check and balance” for ensuring that the environmentally conscious building they planned to build will be as efficient as planned and would verify the actual performance of the building.

He said that the certification would help build community pride, resulting in higher use, and demonstrate the town’s overall commitment to environmental stewardship by being a leader in the community.

Reads argument was further reinforced by environmental stewardship co-ordinator, Lori Rissling-Wynn, who was on hand to support the certification.

While Read and Rissling-Wynn admitted there was no fiscal advantage to becoming LEED certified they both argued that the “intangible elements” were just as important.

Looking forward, the pair also concurred that this was the best capital project in the foreseeable future for the town to get LEED certified, because of its high visibility, and the reasonably low cost of certification.

“It’s our only option for some time... the fitness centre is going to be one of those buildings that draws people in... and LEED certification only adds to that experience,” said Rissling-Wynn.

“It will be a showcase piece in the community... a conversation piece, and an education tool,” she added.

Crunching numbers, Read pointed out that the Activity and Aquatic Centre combined received 100 thousand visitors last year. “That’s a lot of eyeballs on the project,” he noted.

Both stipulated that recognition for the building would go beyond Jasper if it becomes LEED certified as it will be featured on the CGBC website and can also be used as an effective marketing tool for the town.

Read also stressed that he felt it was important for the municipality to lead the way given they were offering residents offsets for obtaining LEED certification on their homes and thought the building would drive innovation in the community.

Mayor Richard Ireland said he was really glad to have three weeks to think about the decision, and questioned the importance of certification when the building would meet the standards with or without certification.

“Why don’t we just do exactly what we said we were going to do and not pay $37 thousand to confirm it?” he said.

He also questioned the off-sets that the municipality was offering residents, saying that he didn’t realize there was such an extra cost. “Are we telling taxpayers they have to pay money to prove they did what they did?” he asked.

“If we want to encourage LEED... is it affordable? Can we really expect that we’re leading the community? Can we hope that anybody would follow?” he continued.

George Krefting, municipal manager also questioned the need for certification as well, and did not support the recommendation as he believes there are more important priorities for the town to spend it’s money on.

“I would hope that we don’t need a LEED certification to run our building efficiently,” he said.

Coun. Damota asked if the certification could be done at a later date, when more funding becomes available.

However, Read said that to get certification there would have to be specific requirements to be in the tender, and the architects would have to begin the paper work straight away.

Read stressed that the Culture and Recreation Board felt this was an important certification, but did not want to give up any other aspect of the project.

Council will make their decision at the next meeting on Oct 6.