LEED v3 to require performance data for certification

by jbs070709 3i — July 10, 2009—As part of LEED v3, the latest version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) program for green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance, buildings seeking LEED certification will begin submitting operational performance data on a recurring basis as a precondition to certification.

There is too often a performance gap between the energy modeling during the design phase and what actually happens during daily operations, said Scot Horst, Senior Vice President of LEED, U.S. Green Building Council. “We’re convinced that ongoing monitoring and reporting of data is the single best way to drive higher building performance because it will bring to light external issues such as occupant behavior or unanticipated building usage patterns, all key factors that influence performance.”

USGBC plans to use the performance information collected to inform future versions of LEED. “It will also help us to educate building owners on how users of the building can impact its energy use and water consumption, to be sure the building is operating as it was designed to,” said Brendan Owens, USGBC’s vice president of LEED technical development.

Projects can comply with the performance requirement in one of three ways:

  1. The building is recertified on a two-year cycle using LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance;
  2. The building provides energy and water usage data on an on-going basis annually; or
  3. The building owner signs a release that authorizes USGBC to access the building’s energy and water usage data directly from the building’s utility provider.

The requirement creates a data stream on LEED-certified building performance that can be used by owners and operators to optimize their building performance and promote the establishment of energy efficiency goals over the life of the building.

USGBC is investigating cost-effective ways for every LEED-certified building to become metered to capture this data. However, the MPR would be waived in cases where there is a central plant, such as a military base or a university campus, where metering every single building would be cost prohibitive.