Overview of LEED-Eb O&M

In the same manner as all LEED products, the LEED-EB O&M Rating System is based on evaluations of a building in seven categories:

• 1. Sustainable sites
• 2. Water efficiency
• 3. Energy and atmosphere
• 4. Materials and resources
• 5. Indoor environmental quality
• 6. Innovation (in this case, in operations)
• 7. Regional priority

Minimum Program Requirements

• 5. Must comply with minimum occupancy rates
• 6. Must commit to sharing whole-building energy and water usage data
• 7. Must comply with a minimum building area-to-site area ratio

The ongoing performance data from buildings required as part of the certification will be compiled and used to establish benchmarks for building performance and provide operators an idea of how their building compares on water and energy use. To further its commitment to improving building performance, the USGBC launched the Building Performance Initiative (BPI) in August 2009 to complement the MPR for ongoing performance data. The BPI will make the data collected available to building owners for analysis and feedback.

Prerequisites

Also consistent with other LEED rating systems, LEED-EB O&M requires every project to meet certain prerequisites in order to be considered for certification (see the list of prerequisites by category in Table 1). All prerequisites must be satisfied for a project to be eligible for certification.

The prerequisites include such items as minimum levels of water and energy efficiency, building commissioning, no CFC refrigerants, no-smoking policy, and other basic elements of a high-performance, green building operation. A key prerequisite involves a minimum performance period for the building. LEED-EB O&M requires buildings to be in operation for a minimum of 12 continuous months before certifying (3 months for all prerequisites and credits except Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite 2 and Credit 1, which require a minimum of 12 months).

Credits and Points

Buildings achieve certification under all LEED products by accumulating a certain number of credit points. Points can be obtained in any combination within and among the credits and categories (see Table 2 for the credit and point breakdown for LEED-EB O&M). All LEED rating systems have 100 base points, and up to 10 bonus points can be earned through Innovation and Regional Priority credits.

TABLE 1 LEED 2009 for EB O&M Prerequisites

TABLE 2 LEED-EB O&M Credits and Points

Each LEED rating system uses the same format for prerequisites and credits. The sections include the following:

• • Intent—describes the main goal of the prerequisite or credit.
• • Requirements—specifies the criteria needed to satisfy the prerequisite or credit.
• • Submittals—specifies the documentation required to demonstrate compliance with the prerequisite or credit.
• • Potential Technologies and Strategies—identifies means and methods that project teams may consider to achieve the prerequisite or credit.

Certification Levels

LEED rating systems allow buildings to achieve various levels of certification based on points achieved (see Table 3 for the certification levels for LEED-EB O&M).

Registration Process

With the launch of LEED Version 3 in 2009, USGBC implemented a new certification model. LEED v3 consists of three components:

• • LEED 2009 rating systems.
• • An upgrade to LEED Online to make it faster and easier to use.
• • New building certification model—an expanded infrastructure based on ISO standards, administered by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) for improved capacity, speed, and performance.

LEED Online is the primary resource for managing the LEED documentation process. It allows project teams to manage project details, complete documentation requirements for LEED credits and prerequisites, upload supporting files, submit applications for review, receive reviewer feedback, and ultimately earn LEED certification. The GBCI is an independent, third-party organization that has assumed administration of LEED certification for all commercial and institutional projects registered under any of the LEED rating systems.

The process of certifying a building under any of the LEED rating systems is essentially the same— the project is first registered with GBCI using LEED Online. Once a project is registered, access to software tools, supplemental resources, sample documentation, credit interpretation rulings, and other essential information is provided. For LEED-EB O&M, the initial application (application for standard review) must be submitted within 60 calendar days of the performance periods used. The application has to include complete documentation for all prerequisites and enough points for certification. GBCI reviews the application and designates each credit and prerequisite as anticipated pending or denied. This preliminary standard review is targeted (but not guaranteed) for completion within 25 business days of receipt of the application. Within 25days of receiving GBCI’s preliminary standard review, the owner may submit a response including any revised documentation. GBCI will then review and return comments for all credits and prerequisites in response to the preliminary Standard Review and

TABLE 3 LEED-EB O&M Certification Levels

designate each as awarded or denied. This final Standard Review is targeted for completion within 15 business days of receipt of the completed application. The owner then accepts or appeals the final review. Following acceptance of the final certification review, LEED projects:

• 1. Will receive a formal certificate of recognition
• 2. Will receive information on how to order plaque and certificates, photo submissions, and marketing
• 3. May be included (at the owner’s discretion) in the online LEED Project Directory of registered and certified projects
• 4. May be included (along with photos and other documentation) in the U.S. Department of Energy High Performance Buildings Database¹⁹¹

Implementation Process

From a practical standpoint, the process of implementing LEED-EB O&M should generally involve the following steps:

• 1. Become familiar with the LEED-EB O&M Rating System
• 2. Gain the support of key decision makers and stakeholders
• 3. Form a project team
• 4. Conduct a preliminary building audit and identify corrective actions required to meet prerequisites and/ or opportunities
• 5. Establish project goals related to target certification level, credits to be pursued, and budget
• 6. Register the project
• 7. Create and adopt policies and procedures, implement upgrades, make operational changes, etc., in accordance with the project goals
• 8. Track performance
• 9. Assemble and submit required documentation (preliminary and any required corrections or resubmittals)
• 10. Achieve certification

The minimum performance period for initial certifications under LEED-EB O&M is 12 months. During this period, actual operational performance must be tracked and reported. The performance tracking period can be as long as 2 years depending upon the project goals and/or implementation strategy.

The USGBC provides project teams with numerous resources including the LEED Online system for managing and preparing the certification application, credit templates that define supporting documentation needed and compliance calculations, credit interpretation rulings that can help answer questions on credits and implementation strategies, and the LEED Reference Guides.^110,111

Benefits of Green Buildings

In fact, there is a robust and growing body of evidence in research and case study that supports these claims. The following examples are illustrative.

A report commissioned by California’s Sustainable Building Task Force found that energy savings alone exceeded the average cost increase associated with 33 different LEED buildings studied. When adding the life-cycle cost benefits of water savings, reduced emissions, operations and maintenance efficiencies, and improved occupant productivity and health, the 20years net present value of the financial benefits of green buildings exceeded the implementation costs by as much as 10-15 times.¹¹²¹ Case studies on commissioning alone show that construction and operating costs can be reduced from 1 to 70 times the initial cost of commissioning.¹¹⁵¹ Improved thermal comfort, reduced indoor pollutants, enhanced ventilation rates, and other characteristics of green buildings have been found to have positive impacts on occupant productivity, student test scores, absenteeism, and incidences of various sicknesses.¹¹⁴¹

Other benefits continue to be demonstrated in case studies and research, including the following:

• • Increased building value
• • Risk mitigation
• • Employee loyalty and recruitment
• • Brand image and public relations
• • Environmental stewardship¹¹⁵¹

Energy Efficiency Potential of Green Buildings

In LEED 2009, points are allocated among credits based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit. As a result, the allocation of points significantly changed in comparison to previous versions of the LEED rating systems. These changes increased the relative importance of reducing energy consumption and building-related greenhouse gas emissions. Reflecting this, one credit in LEED 2009 EB O&M comprises the largest potential amount of points—Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1 Optimize Energy Efficiency Performance provides the opportunity for 18 possible points. Furthermore, with its emphasis (and associated requirements) on demonstrated performance, LEED-EB 08cM presents tremendous potential to reduce energy consumption throughout the commercial building sector. When considering the fact that existing buildings comprise some 95% of the commercial building stock in the United States, the magnitude of potential reduction is immense. To put this potential in context, consider U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections of the impact of energy efficiency on per capita commercial energy consumption. In their Annual Energy Outlook 2010, EIA estimates per capita commercial energy consumption in 2035 could be decreased by as much as 17.5% depending upon the degree to which technology-based efficiency improvements are deployed throughout the sector.¹¹⁶¹ McKinsey and Company estimates that, by 2020, the United States could reduce annual energy consumption by 9.1 quadrillion British thermal units (BTUs) (23%) of end-use energy (18.4 quadrillion BTUs in primary energy) from a business-as-usual baseline by deploying an array of energy efficiency measures with the commercial sector accounting for 25% of this potential. At full potential, the projected efficiency improvements could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 1.1 gigatons of CO, by 2020 and serve as a bridge to low-carbon energy sources.¹¹⁷¹ Similarly, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimates that the combination of energy efficiency and demand response programs has the potential to reduce summer peak electric demand in the United States by 157 GW to 218 GW (14% to 20%) by 2030.¹¹⁸¹ Finally, consider the potential national impact of LEED energy savings presented in the Green Building Market and Impact Report 2009. This report projects that given the acceleration of LEED adoption, energy savings in the United States could reach 1.75 quadrillion BTUs by 2020 and 3.9 quadrillion BTUs by 2035 (8.3% and 17.3%, respectively, of national annual commercial building energy use). A best-case scenario could see those savings rise to 22.3% by 2030.¹¹⁹¹

Conclusion

The USGBC’s LEED Green Building Rating System has become a well-recognized standard for guiding the development of green, high-performance buildings and for verifying that established green building goals have been accomplished. The LEED family of rating systems is focused on the design and construction process for new buildings. However, one rating system—LEED-EB O&M— focuses on operations and maintenance of existing buildings. LEED-EB O&M is of particular interest to facility managers, energy managers, and other professionals involved in building operation and management. LEED-EB O&M provides a guidebook for those interested in “greening” their existing building stock. Implementing these green processes and practices can be an effective means of reducing a building’s life-cycle costs, reducing its environmental impact, and improving occupant health and productivity.

References

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• 18. Faruqui, A.; Hledik, S.; Rohmund, I.; Sergici, S.; Siddiqui, O.; Smith, K.; Wilder, G.; Yoshida, S. Assessment of Achievable Potential from Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Programs in the U.S. (2010-2030). EPRI: Palo Alto, CA, 2009; xi.
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