Federal participation in LEED

A B S T R A C T The concept of green building has gained rapid recognition recently. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most successful green building rating systems. Understanding the performance of LEED certified buildings on various LEED credits is therefore important for practitioners and regulatory authorities. This paper analyses the use of LEED 2009 and investigates the credit allocation pattern of 3416 LEED 2009 certified projects. The results show that compared to its previous version LEED v2.2, the point chasing problem in innovation related credits is mitigated. However, energy-related and material-related credits remain difficult for developers to obtain. LEED 2009 certified projects perform differently in water efficiency at the country level. At the state level, the projects perform differently in water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and resources, as well as indoor environmental quality. Varied credit achievement patterns are also identified on cross-certification and cross-sector levels. The study offers a useful guidance for practitioners to achieve relevant certification levels and for regulatory authorities to continuously improve the rating system.

2002

The LEED TM system awards points for prescriptive and performance based environmental strategies; rightly giving more weight to decisions affecting building operations, since environmental impacts over the life of a building exceed the one-time environmental impacts affected by the building's construction. The environmental benefits of LEED TM strategies are considered implicit and the point system is not a metric of environmental performance. Thus, guideline strategies that achieve the same points may not have analogous environmental performance. This paper draws from our LEED TM project experience as certified consultants to a number of design teams. We applied analysis to those experiences and argue that • The relative environmental value of the same LEED TM strategy may vary by geographical region and by building type. • Scoring successive LEED TM points beyond a 'standard practice design' significantly increases design effort and capital costs for construction. • Without comparative analysis of the costs of alternate LEED TM strategies and their corresponding environmental benefit, designers will not necessarily invest capital in strategies that most profoundly minimize the environmental impacts of a building. • For design teams and owners interested in the least expensive LEED TM certification, gaming the point system could drive investment away from sound environmental performance strategies such as energy efficiency. Using these arguments, this paper makes a case to enhance the LEED TM system by • Categorizing LEED TM strategies by their direct or indirect value towards Environmental Benefit, Healthy Buildings (Places), and Profitability • Reformulating prescriptive requirements into performance based requirements wherever possible. • Customizing LEED TM guidelines by region 1 Submitted for publication at ACEEE 2002 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. 'Green' according to the UGBC The USGBC's mission is stated as "the nation's foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work." We interpret profitability within the context of the LEED TM system as improvements to a business bottom line due to environmentally responsible or healthy building choices.

Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 2015

All efforts for handling resources, including extraction, processing, transportation, and manufacturing require energy. Thus, energy is a very valuable, albeit an indirect resource in the development of any country. Dependence on energy has a direct impact on the environment as well as the cost of products. Sustainability efforts focus on minimizing environmental impacts within a reasonable cost. Green building rating and certification systems around the world handle energy-related issues by considering the regional priorities of the country where they were first introduced. Certification systems rely on standards that are in effect locally. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) was first introduced in the U.S. and is currently the most widely preferred green building certification system around the world. The “energy and atmosphere” category in LEED v4 NC amounts to 33 points, which corresponds to approximately 26.2% of the total points that a building can receive. B...

2023

This report describes our analysis of how Army Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ®) certification data demonstrates success in meeting Army sustainable design and development (SDD) policy goals. Specifically, the research team evaluated how LEED 2.2 and v2009 credits related to Army SDD policy objectives, then identified trends over time in Army LEED 2.2 and v2009-rated Projects. This is a historical assessment of actual project data, captured before the Army transitioned to the newer LEED v4. This report explains how implementation of LEED NC 2.2 and v2009 credits helped Army projects achieve SDD policy objectives. Emphasis was placed on LEED credits that directly related to SDD policy requirements which Army construction and major renovation projects needed to meet. DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report are not to be used for advertising, publication, or promotional purposes. Citation of trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use of such commercial products. All product names and trademarks cited are the property of their respective owners. The findings of this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position unless so designated by other authorized documents.

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering

The study aims to evaluate the correlation between building layer (BL) and service layer (SL) (i.e., shearing layer concept) in the (i) design of new buildings under the LEED-NCv3 rating scheme and (ii) renewal of existing buildings under the LEED-EBv3 rating scheme. To decrease the influence that green policy, which can change over several years, has on the Energy and Atmosphere category of LEED, LEED-certified projects were selected exclusively from the US over the course of a year. The total number of LEED certified projects analyzed was 594. These projects were nested into 32 groups (eight US states × two types of buildings × two LEED certification levels). In 19 of 32 groups, reciprocal negative correlations between BL and SL were observed. The following three design strategies, BL-emphasized, SL-emphasized, and random, were identified. It was concluded that LEED rating schemes should be enhanced by emphasizing long time expectancy BL design strategies.

Today, there is a high level of demand for sustainable buildings. The most important decisions regarding a building's sustainable features are made during the design and preconstruction stages. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) is the most widely adopted sustainable building rating system in the United States. For projects pursuing LEED certification, designers have to conduct in-depth sustainability analyses based on a building's form, materials, context, and mechanical–electrical–plumbing (MEP) systems. Since Building Information Modelling (BIM) allows for multidisciplinary information to be superimposed within one model, it creates an opportunity to conduct these analyses accurately and efficiently as compared to the traditional methods. In this exploratory research, a case study was conducted on Salisbury University's Perdue School of Business building to demonstrate the use of BIM for sustainable design and the LEED certification process. First, a conceptual framework was developed to establish the relationship between BIM based sustainability analyses and the LEED certification process. Next, the framework was validated via this case study. The results of this study indicate that documentation supporting LEED credits may be directly or indirectly prepared using the results of BIM-based sustainability analyses software. This process could streamline the LEED certification process and save substantial time and resources which would otherwise be required using traditional methods.

2018

Conservation of energy and protecting the environment has becoming a rapidly increasing global concern. To address these concerns, initiatives are being taken worldwide and specifically by the construction industry. One such initiative in the construction industry is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It is a building rating system developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) that sets benchmarks to make building design and construction green and sustainable and then assess the building performance. USGBC has developed a suite of rating systems based on the different types of buildings including LEED NC for New Construction, LEED CI for Commercial Interiors and many more. LEED NC has total of 69 possible points that can be earned, where a building is rated as Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum based on the number of points achieved by the design and construction. In a preliminary analysis of these points pursued by LEED 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 versions,...

Green buildings are increasingly gaining attention in the building industry globally. Green building rating systems have been instrumental in driving this front. Increasing number of green rated buildings and the national and international level rating systems speak for the importance of green buildings. A majority if not all rating systems are established on the same fundamental principles which are reflected in their credit categories, credit distribution and weighting. Life Cycle Assessment has been adopted in LEED rating system to rationalize the possible impacts and hence the credit weighting. Although the logic is well rationalized, this distribution is not reflected in actual practice due to many reasons such as cost implications, practical limitations and regional variations. Therefore certain credit categories that are most prevalent in LEED rated projects in the US might not be reflected important in LEED rated projects in Asia. Considering the rapidly progressing adaptation of LEED system in Asia, this paper intends to explore adaptation trends in LEED system comparing projects in the US and in Asia. Our study analyses fifty urban office projects in the US and in Asia that have achieved either Gold or Platinum level rating under LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations rating system version 2 and 2.2. Size of the projects will be determined by benchmarks specified by Core & Shell system. Data will be primarily obtained from LEED score sheets. Data will be analysed based on simple statistical analysis methods. Findings are expected to reflect how rating system requirements are adopted in practice, and regional trends and which will lead to suggestions how rating systems should be more encompassing and be inline with practical implementation.

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

The number of green buildings certified under voluntary, third-party rating systems has been growing, as has the number of jurisdictions that require or incentivise such certification. In this paper, we use logistic and linear regression to demonstrate that for all cities in the US with population greater than 50,000, there is a statistically significant relationship between the presence of a municipal green building policy and the number of registered green buildings (those still under construction), but not the number of certified buildings. We present very strong evidence that the presence of a policy is indeed leading to more green buildings, rather than demographic or other factors.

Sustainable Supply Chains, 2012

The design and construction of Miller Hall, a 166,000 square foot $75 million dollar LEED Gold certified classroom and office building is the first link in a green supply chain for undergraduate, graduate and continuing corporate education. The building also serves as a platform for a wide variety of faculty research and staff and student activities focusing on sustainability.