by Shane Henson — December 12, 2011—LEED-certified existing buildings are outpacing their newly built counterparts as more building owners realize the benefits of making their facilities more energy efficient and sustainable and strive to accomplish this while seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), as of December 2011, square footage of LEED-certified existing buildings surpassed LEED-certified new construction by 15 million square feet on a cumulative basis. The nonprofit organization’s LEED green building certification system is a major program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings.
“The United States is home to more than 60 billion square feet of existing commercial buildings, and we know that most of those buildings are energy guzzlers and water sieves,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president of USGBC. “Making these existing buildings energy and water efficient has an enormous positive impact on the building’s cost of operations. And the indoor air quality improvements that go with less toxic cleaning solutions and better filtration create healthier places to live, work and learn.”
Historically, USGBC says it has seen the stock of LEED-certified green projects overwhelmingly made up of new construction projects, both in volume and square footage. That began to change in 2008, when the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (O&M) program began experiencing explosive growth.
According to the organization, in 2009, projects certified under LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M surpassed those certified under its new construction counterpart on an annual basis, a trend that continued in 2010 and 2011.
“The market is becoming increasingly aware of how building owners can get better performance through green operations and maintenance, and tools such as LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M are essential to cost-effectively driving improvements in our economy and environment. LEED as a rating system is continuing to evolve an ever greater emphasis on performance, not only in energy, but also water, location, indoor environmental quality, and materials,” Fedrizzi added.
Projects worldwide are proving that green building does not have to mean building new. For example, by undertaking a large renovation, the recently LEED-certified Empire State Building has predicted it will slash energy consumption by more than 38 percent, saving $4.4 million in energy costs annually, and recouping the costs of implementation in only three years.
